ASEAN, Switzerland agree to expand all-around cooperation
ASEAN and Switzerland on October 16 held the 5th meeting of the ASEAN-Switzerland Joint Sectoral Cooperation Committee (AS-JSCC), during which the two sides emphasised their commitment to strengthening dialogue partnership in many fields.
Ambassador Tran Duc Binh, head of the Vietnamese mission to ASEAN (Photo: VNA)
Jakarta (VNA) – ASEAN and Switzerland on October 16 held the 5th meeting of the ASEAN-Switzerland JointSectoral Cooperation Committee (AS-JSCC), during which the two sides emphasised their commitment to strengtheningdialogue partnership in many fields.
Ambassador Tran Duc Binh, headof the Vietnamese mission to ASEAN, attended the virtual event which aims to reviewand discuss measures to promote the implementation of cooperation projects betweenASEAN and Switzerland.
Representatives from ASEANmember countries and Switzerland noted the results achieved in implementing recentcooperation programmes between the two sides in the fields ofpolitics-security, economic development, training, culture and people-to-peopleexchange, especially the implementation of the the Action Plan for the ASEAN-Switzerland Practical Cooperation Areas (CPA) in the 2017-2021period.
The Swiss side affirmed to support multilateral cooperation, pledged to attachimportance to relations with ASEAN and support the grouping's central role in theregion, and wished to build closer cooperation with the bloc on all the threepillars.
In the context of theCOVID-19 pandemic, Switzerland highly valued Vietnam’s role as the Chair ofASEAN 2020, and its good performance of coordinating and maintainingintra-regional cooperation activities as well as strengthening cooperation withthe bloc’s partners to respond to the pandemic, and successfully organise manyimportant meetings in 2020.
The Swiss side said itis considering its contribution to the ASEAN Fund to respond to COVID-19 whenthe fund is officially established, and agreed to strengthen cooperation,facilitate trade and investment activities, and enhance connection chains to promote post-pandemicrecovery./.
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Ambassador Tran Duc Binh, head of the Vietnamese mission to ASEAN (Photo: VNA) 
