Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of the Vietnam's SOM ASEAN delegation, said the meeting is held to prepare for the Ministerial Meeting in August. Dung said high on the agenda will be the building of the ASEAN Community, the implementation of commitments made at the 36^th ASEAN Summit and the Special ASEAN Meeting on COVID-19 Response, and ways to strengthen dialogues with ASEAN’s partners.

Delegates at the meeting praised Vietnam’s successful hosting of the 36^th ASEAN Summit and its initiatives in response to the pandemic. They pledged to work closely with Vietnam to finalize plans set out for this year.