ASEAN Senior Officials' Meeting and Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Commission

On 21 June, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung, Head of Vietnam's ASEAN Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) delegation, attended the ASEAN SOM and the Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Commission for the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ ExCom). The meetings were chaired online by Brunei, ASEAN Chair for 2021, with the participation of senior officials from the 10 ASEAN countries and the ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General.

At the ASEAN SOM, the countries discussed important matters in preparation for the 54th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM-54) and related Ministerial Meetings, to be held online from 2 to 6 August 2021. The countries exchanged views and agreed on ways to advance the implementation of the initiatives and priorities proposed by Brunei as Chair in 2021, including the “ASEAN SHIELD” initiative to enhance ASEAN's collective capacity to respond to natural disasters, a scholarship programme for capacity-building for young ASEAN officials, and building a common ASEAN understanding of the blue economy... The initiatives from Vietnam's ASEAN Chairmanship year 2020 were also discussed with a view to their continued implementation.

The countries stressed the need for early implementation of the outcomes of the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting held on 24 April at the ASEAN Secretariat in Indonesia, including specific steps and plans to implement the Leaders' Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar. Regarding ASEAN's external relations, the countries discussed and agreed on a number of issues relating to ASEAN's cooperation with its existing dialogue partners, and considered and exchanged views on requests by a number of countries to establish new partnerships with ASEAN, ensuring a balanced approach and ASEAN centrality.

At the SEANWFZ ExCom meeting, the countries reaffirmed the importance of the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone as the key instrument embodying ASEAN's commitment to keeping Southeast Asia free of nuclear weapons, contributing to regional security and to the common international efforts towards the non-proliferation and disarmament of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. On this basis, the countries discussed preparations for the SEANWFZ Commission Meeting to be held in early August, reviewed progress in implementing the Treaty's Plan of Action for the 2018–2022 period, and discussed the finalisation of the Memorandum on activities related to the SEANWFZ as a reference document for the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (expected to be held in August 2021)...

At the meetings, Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung expressed support for Brunei's priorities and initiatives for 2021; proactively proposed ways to advance the implementation of Vietnam's initiatives from its ASEAN Chairmanship year 2020, including reviewing the implementation of the ASEAN Charter and strengthening sub-regional cooperation, including Mekong cooperation...; and contributed important views to guide the handling of issues in ASEAN's relations with its partners while ensuring the centrality of the Association. In his capacity as representative of the ASEAN Chair for 2020, the Deputy Minister updated the countries on progress in finalising the Memorandum on activities related to the SEANWFZ.

On international and regional issues, Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung called on ASEAN countries to continue upholding their principles and consistent approaches on the East Sea issue in the context of continuing complex developments on the ground, and to work together to create a favourable environment for substantive negotiations towards the early conclusion of an effective and efficient Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982). On Myanmar, the Deputy Minister stressed that early implementation of the Five-Point Consensus is an urgent requirement that directly affects ASEAN's prestige, image and centrality. On this basis, the Deputy Minister proposed a number of specific measures to advance ASEAN's common efforts on this issue.