Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung (Photo: VNA)

At the Joint Consultative Meeting (JCM) and ASEAN Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) in Bangkok on Tuesday, he suggested innovations to improve ASEAN’s effectiveness.

The ASEAN meetings discussed the preparations for the 34th ASEAN Summit next month in Thailand, promoting partnerships for sustainable development, relations between ASEAN and its partners, regional cooperation, building the ASEAN Community, and other regional and global issues. ASEAN members agreed to strengthen coordination within ASEAN, and improve the operational efficiency of the ASEAN Secretariat. They also discussed South Africa’s admission to ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, ways to promote the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ), and Timor Leste’s admission to ASEAN.