Bangkok (VNA) – The SeniorOfficials Meeting (SOM) of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) endorsed more than 20initiatives for 2019-2020 in Bangkok on May 31.

The initiatives focused ondisaster relief, fighting terrorism and trans-national crime, sea security,cyber security, denuclearization and disarmament, and peacekeeping.

The ARF SOM is part of a seriesof senior officials’ meetings ahead of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ gatheringslated for August.

Participants at the eventaffirmed that the ARF continues to be the leading venue for talks on securitycooperation in Asia-Pacific. With ASEAN at its centre, the ARF has become amain drive for trust building among countries in the region through diverseideas on trust-building and preventive diplomacy.

The Vietnamese delegation to theSOM is led by Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, who is head of SOMVietnam.

Delegates discussed future orientationsfor the ARF and agreed to conduct a review of the forum’s activities over thepast decade, while Vietnam, as Chair of the ARF in 2020, will chair thebuilding of a vision and a plan of actions for the forum’s new developmentstage.

The meeting also examined anumber of documents on regional security, which will be submitted to the ARFforeign ministers’ meeting in August for consideration.

Looking into international andregional situations, participating countries emphasized the significance ofdialogue and cooperation as well as trust building and preventive diplomatic tothe maintenance of peace and stability in the region. They underlined theimportance of peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation andoverflight in the East Sea. Many countries took the occasion to highlight theprinciples of self-restraint, peaceful settlement of disputes and respect forinternational law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982UNCLOS).

The countries acknowledged theprogress that ASEAN and China have made in implementing the Declaration on theConduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and expressed their hope that the twosides early reach a substantive and effective Code of Conduct of Parties (COC) inthe East Sea.

Regarding the Korean peninsula,the meeting welcomed the parties’ commitment to maintaining dialogue andseeking a comprehensive solution to issues in this area. The countries urgedrelated parties to make their utmost efforts to promote the full implementationof reached agreements for long-term peace, stability and security in a Koreanpeninsula without nuclear weapons.

Addressing the meeting, theVietnamese head delegate underlined the importance of ASEAN-led mechanisms informing an open, inclusive and rule-based regional structure, as well as ofdialogue, cooperation, trust building measures and the observance ofinternational law in the context of increasing complicated and diversifiedchallenges.

Vietnam also welcomed theoutcomes of the negotiations on the COC between ASEAN and China while noting concernsabout developments that can undermine trust and negatively affect the peacefuland stable environment in the region. In such context, countries shouldrestrain themselves, avoid unilateral actions that can undermine trust, refrainfrom militarization, abide by international law and the UNCLOS, and settledisputes through peaceful measures so as to maintain a favourable environmentfor the COC negotiation, the Vietnamese head delegate said at the meeting.

The ARF has 27 members, comprising all 10 ASEANmembers and Australia, Bangladesh,Canada, China, the EU, India, Japan, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, NewZealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Timor Leste, the United States,and Sri Lanka. -VNA