Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung have urged ASEAN and partner countries to focus their links across education, narrowing development gap, agriculture, connectivity, sub-regional collaboration and coping with non-ꦗtraditional security challenges.

In his speech delivered at the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on November 22, the PM also raised the recent complicated developments in the East Sea, especially the massive land reclamation. He made it clear that Vietnam continually advocates working with parties concerned to build the East Sea into an area of peace, stability and cooperation for mutual development, settling disputes by peaceful means in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, refraining from the use of force or threat to use force, exercising restraint and avoiding complicating the situation. Vietnam backs measures to build trust, ease tension and prevent conflicts, he said, adding that the country asks parties concerned to commit to neither pursuing nor deploying militarisation in the East Sea; seriously, fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and working towards a Code of Conduct in the East Sea. At the summit, leaders adopted a declaration on the 10 th anniversary of the EAS and pledged to foster cooperation in the six priority fields of energy, education, finance, global health care, environment and disaster management, and ASEAN connectivity. They passed a roadmap to eliminating malaria by the Asia-Pacific Leaders’ Alliance, the EAS declarations on strengthening maritime in the Asia-Pacific, the global movement of moderates, reinforcing regional health security regarding infectious diseases, cyber security, and fighting violent extremism. While at the ASEAN-New Zealand Commemorative Summit held the same day, leaders agreed to elevate the ASEAN-New Zealand ties to a strategic partnership and spoke highly of their achievements over the past 40 years. Both sides committed to extensive integration into the region towards achieving the 2025 ASEAN Community Vision and the 2016-2020 ASEAN-New Zealand Action Plan. ASEAN leaders lauded New Zealand for its funding worth 200 million NZD to the regional human and prosperity strategies for the next three years. They gave priority to ensuring regional peace and security, settling traditional and non-traditional security challenges, maritime cooperation, economic integration, agriculture, trade, investment, energy, education, tourism, small and medium-sized enterprises, people-to-people exchange, disaster management, environment, climate change and health care. Concluding the summit, they adopted a Joint Declaration for the 40th anniversary of the ASEAN-New Zealand Partnership.-VNA