Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the high-ranking delegation of Vietnam arrived at Jakarta capital of Indonesia at midday on April 23 (local time) to attend the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting at the invitation of the Chair of ASEAN in 2021, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (centre) is welcomed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport by staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia and Viet Nam's permanent mission to ASEAN on April 23 (Photo: VNA)

Those welcoming the delegation at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta included representatives of the Indonesia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Vietnamese ambassador to Indonesia, the ambassador and permanent representative of Vietnam to ASEAN, staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia.

The ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting takes place amid the political instability in Myanmar since February 1 and complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in regional countries. Meanwhile, Vietnam successfully served as Chair of the bloc in 2020 and is currently a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and President of the council for April.

At this meeting, PM Chinh and other ASEAN leaders will discuss the Myanmar situation, the ASEAN Community building process, the response to COVID-19, and the bloc’s external relations.

The trip by the Vietnamese PM continues to affirm the country’s priority given to the enhancement of solidarity and mutual support among ASEAN members, thus helping to promote the grouping’s centrality and stature in resolving emerging challenges and create a peaceful and favourable environment for the sustainable development of each country, as well as the region as a whole.

Source: VNA