Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung chairs the SOM ASEAN+3 meeting on July 20, 2020. (Photo: Trung Hieu/ baoquocte.vn)

At an online ASEAN+3 Senior Officials’ Meeting with China, Japan and the Republic of Korea on Monday, Nguyen Quoc Dung, Deputy Foreign Minister and head of SOM ASEAN of Vietnam, as the Chair of the ASEAN and the ASEAN+3 cooperation framework, called for stronger cooperation to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and maintain sustainable growth.

He said COVID-19 requires ASEAN+3 to double their effort to maintain integration and sustainable growth, restore the economy, and assure trade and investment stability and supply chains in the region.

The Republic of Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Gunn, said, “The ASEAN+3 cooperation mechanism was set up in the context of the financial crisis in the late 1990s. It has proved to be a dynamic and effective mechanism, especially in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. An online Special ASEAN+3 Summit with China, Japan and the Republic of Korea on the COVID-19 response was held in April.”

Participants also reviewed the ASEAN+3 action plan for the 2018-2022 period and discussed preparations for important summits later this year. Everyone expressed a determination to work together to control the pandemic and restore the economy.