ASEAN leaders prioritise COVID-19 control

HANOI: At the special virtual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Tuesday, leaders of the 10 member states affirmed that the bloc’s current leading priority was controlling the COVID-19 pandemic and preventing it from spreading further.

The 10 Asean members, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and the Asean Secretary-general agreed that the countries should join hands with one another and with other nations to prevent the global pandemic from spreading further, with focus on preventing cross-border infections.

The leaders also stated that the Asean should pay due attention to taking measures to minimise the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19.

The countries should forge closer coordination in protecting their citizens, providing social security services as well as economic stimulus and aid packages, and maintaining supply chains to protect people and assist small- and mediumsized enterprises.

The Asean leaders also touched upon mapping out plans to recover the economy in the post-pandemic period, including stepping up intra-bloc trade, speeding up negotiations and then finalising economic cooperation deals, implementing economic stimulus packages, and enhancing the capability of coping with external shocks.

Another virtual Special Asean Plus Three Summit on COVID-19 took place on Tuesday with the participation of the state or government heads of the 10 Asean members, China, Japan and South Korea, the Asean Secretary-general and the World Health Organization Director-general.

The two summits are taking place at a time when COVID-19 continues to strike many countries around the world, including Asean nations, posing a grave threat to human health and safety, while fuelling worries about its huge impact on economy regionally and globally.