Ambassador Nguyen Hai Bang (left) presents a Letter of credential to ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi. (Photo: Vietnamese Office in ASEAN)

On the occasion, the ASEAN Secretary-General again praised the success of Vietnam during the year it held the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2020, especially in leading ASEAN in maintaining solidarity and proactively responding to the complicated developments of the pandemic.

He re-affirmed the important contributions of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) during the Year of ASEAN Chairmanship 2020, including chairing and participating in the successful negotiation of many documents in the framework of ASEAN cooperation with partners, coordinating inter-pillar issues and strengthening the role and activities of the ASEAN Secretariat.

He expressed his belief that Ambassador Bang, with his experience as a senior diplomat, will make important contribution to the CPR work, thus further consolidating Vietnam’s role and position in ASEAN and ASEAN’s in the international community.

In 2021, Vietnam will serve as chair of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Task Force and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the ASEAN Foundation (AF BOT). The country will end its tenure as coordinator of ASEAN-Japan relations and take over as coordinator of ASEAN-RoK relations for 2021-2024