Taking the 3 'unities' as the solid foundation and roots for ASEAN's flexible and creative actions

Photo caption — National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue speaks. Photo: Doan Tan/VNA

The speech was themed: “Vietnam - Indonesia strategic partnership is closely linked, together striving for a dynamic, inclusive, peaceful, cooperative and developed Asia - Pacific and Indian Ocean”.

The forum was attended by members of the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly; Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee of the Indonesian House of Representatives Fadli Zon; President of the Indonesian Foreign Policy Community Institute (FPCI) Dino Patti Djalal; many Indonesian scholars and students...

Speaking at the forum, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue expressed his pleasure to visit and exchange with the Indonesian Foreign Policy Community - the leading policy research center in Indonesia and the region.

Referring to the deep cultural ties between the two countries dating back to the 7th century, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said that Indonesia is a loyal friend and a good neighbor who has always accompanied Vietnam. Indonesia was the first country in Southeast Asia to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1955. President Ho Chi Minh and two respected Indonesian leaders, Sukarno and Hatta, shared a vision of a peaceful and developed world.

According to National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, the profound changes over the past two decades affirm that in the 21st century, the security and prosperous development of the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean increasingly have a decisive influence on the security and prosperous development of countries and the world.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said: “To preserve the blue sky of peace, a peaceful and prosperous environment for the future, all countries need to join hands to build a regional cooperation structure that is inclusive, sustainable, connected in politics, security, economy, trade, culture, society and people-to-people exchange, promoting conduct based on the United Nations Charter and international law.”

According to National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, after nearly 6 decades of formation and development, ASEAN has never been in such a good position as it is today, but it has also never faced as many challenges as it does now. He emphasized that ASEAN needs to reposition itself, initiate ideas, arouse self-reliance, and unleash resources for community development.

From there, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue proposed taking the three "unities" as a solid foundation and strong roots for ASEAN's flexible and creative actions.

One is unity in upholding principles, which is reflected in maintaining strategic balance in relations between ASEAN and its partners. Accordingly, an “ASEAN of stature” must persistently ensure the principles of independence and autonomy, and not accept ASEAN becoming a tool for any confrontation or division.

Second, unity in maintaining consensus is demonstrated by ASEAN maintaining consensus on important regional security and development issues, together protecting ASEAN's common stance and viewpoint according to the "ASEAN way" and the ASEAN Charter.

Specifically, in the face of recent complicated developments that have caused tension in the East Sea, it is necessary to unite and persistently promote dialogue, resolve disputes by peaceful means, ensure security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation, fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), negotiate 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).

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue stressed that ASEAN needs to unify and firmly support the goal of supporting Myanmar to fully implement the “Five-Point Consensus”. He affirmed that Vietnam supports the Chair of Indonesia and the Special Envoy to promote an active role in leading ASEAN to realize the above goal.

Third, unity in community building is also reflected in taking people as the center, subject, goal and driving force of the community building process. National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue emphasized the need to promote institutional, infrastructure and human connectivity to unleash development potential and support each other to participate more deeply in regional and global supply chains.

Regarding cooperation between Vietnam and Indonesia, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue expressed his view that the closer the two countries cooperate, the more they will contribute to ASEAN's progress. The National Assembly Chairman quoted the statement of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong during his visit to Indonesia in 2017: "Together with ASEAN, Vietnam and Indonesia will continue to develop; together with Indonesia and Vietnam, ASEAN will grow stronger, contributing worthily to peace, independence, cooperation and development in the region and the world."

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue affirmed Vietnam's stance of always supporting "peace, harmony, and friendship" in its foreign policy.

Vietnam persistently pursues a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, diversification, “being a friend, a reliable partner and a responsible member” in the international community; proactively and actively integrating comprehensively, deeply and effectively into the international community. Vietnam upholds multilateralism, the United Nations Charter and international law, supports peaceful settlement of disputes, and consolidates common principles and norms of conduct in the region for peace, stability, cooperation and sustainable development.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue affirmed that these are the fundamental and core principles that have created Vietnam's success on the 37-year journey of Renovation and comprehensive and extensive international integration. National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue also highlighted Vietnam's achievements in socio-economic development and international integration in recent times as well as the goals that Vietnam has set and the solutions for Vietnam to achieve those goals.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue stated that Vietnam considers parliamentary diplomacy to play a very important role, promoting soft power to contribute to deepening the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and other countries and partners.

The National Assembly Chairman emphasized: “We understand that Parliaments play a very important role in the legislative function, supreme supervision and facilitating resource allocation, enhancing connections with the people, thereby coordinating and supporting the Governments of countries to build mechanisms and policies to create momentum for socio-economic development, for the benefit of the people and the business community.”

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue also mentioned Vietnam's plan to host the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians in September 2023. The conference has the theme "The role of youth in promoting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals through digital transformation and innovation". The National Assembly Chairman expressed his hope that parliaments of AIPA member countries and partners will actively agree, support and participate in this extremely important event.

Emphasizing that the relationship between the two countries is in a period of convergence of "heavenly time, favorable terrain, and harmony of people" to together overcome and gain many new achievements, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue proposed a number of specific directions on political, defense - security, and multilateral cooperation; strengthening economic ties; people-to-people exchange; cooperation on climate, environment and energy; and strengthening parliamentary diplomatic cooperation to work together towards upgrading the relationship between the two countries to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development.

Reiterating the views of Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee of the Indonesian House of Representatives Fadli Zon and President of the Indonesian Foreign Policy Community Institute (FPCI) Dino Patti Djalal that Vietnam and Indonesia are naturally close partners, the National Assembly Chairman said that the potential for cooperation between the two countries is enormous, strongly promoted by the abundant internal strength of each country as well as the rapid movement of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution in a strong and united ASEAN Community space.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue emphasized: “We cannot yet imagine the world in 2045, the moment when the two countries celebrate their 100th anniversary. But one thing we can be sure of is that Indonesia and Vietnam have the will, aspiration and determination to cooperate to realize together the aspiration of becoming rich and developed countries.”

At the forum, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue discussed and shared with delegates attending the forum who wanted to learn about the following contents: Assessment of the history of the traditional friendship as well as the Vietnam - Indonesia Strategic Partnership; potential cooperation between the two countries in various fields; the role of Parliamentary Diplomacy in promoting cooperation between the two countries, connecting people; taking people as the center, the goals and development motivation of each country in ASEAN and the ASEAN Community...

Delegates wanted to learn about the "secret" when Vietnam is an attractive destination in attracting foreign investment, has rapid economic growth and high adaptability, and still achieves positive growth during the period affected by the COVID-19 pandemic...

President of the Indonesian Foreign Policy Community Institute Dino Patti Djalal assessed that through research as well as when visiting Vietnam, he witnessed the dynamic development of Vietnam. He believed that the spirit of solidarity, self-reliance, self-help, discipline, and optimism about the future are factors that contributed to helping Vietnam overcome difficulties and achieve victory in the struggle for national liberation, and achieve proud achievements in the cause of building and developing the country.

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