(VOVworld) - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged ASEAN and partner countries to focus their links across education, narrowing development gap, agriculture, connectivity, sub-regional collaboration and coping with non-traditional security challenges.

In his speech delivered at the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Sunday, 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 East Asia Summit 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 East Asia Summit declarations on strengthening maritime cooperation 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. Concluding the summit, they adopted a Joint Declaration for the 40th anniversary of the ASEAN-New Zealand Partnership.