The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry organised a ceremony to hoist the flagsof ASEAN and Vietnam in Hanoi on August 8 to mark the 44th foundinganniversary of ASEAN and the 16th anniversary of Vietnam’s admission toASEAN.

At the 44th ASEAN Foreign Ministerial Meeting in Indonesiathis year, ASEAN leaders reached consensus on hoisting the ASEAN flagnext to national flags at their diplomatic representative offices onASEAN Day (August 8), starting from this year, to raise public awarenessof ASEAN and the bloc’s community building process.

Also on the same day, the Vietnamese Embassies in Laos, Malaysia and Australia organised similar ceremonies.

InVientiane, minister Nguyen Van An said since joined the bloc on July28, 1995, Vietnam had constantly and proactively contributed meaningfulopinions to ASEAN activities and the ASEAN Charter. The country hadsuccessfully organised many ASEAN conferences as well as the bloc’smeetings with its partners, and performed particularly well in its roleas ASEAN Chair in 2010.

At the ceremony in Malaysia, Ambassadorto Malaysia Nguyen Hong Thao said the flag hoisting ceremony marked theoutstanding progress of the ASEAN bloc as an active player in ensuringpeace and prosperity in the region and the world.

The Vietnamesediplomat expressed hope that the development of the ASEAN Community aswell as the relationship between Vietnam and Malaysia would becomestronger and more active to contribute to peace, security and stabilityin each country, the entire region and the world.

Addressing theevent in Canberra, Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Hoang Vinh Thanhaffirmed the ASEAN flag hoisting ceremony in Canberra featured a symbolof unity, solidarity, and cooperation among ASEAN member countries andthe comprehensive cooperation between ASEAN and Australia, one thebloc’s dialogue partners.

By hoisting the ASEAN and Vietnameseflags in the capital city as well as at a number of diplomaticrepresentative agencies and its embassies abroad, Vietnam showed itsdetermination to contribute to building the ASEAN Community by 2015 andpromoting further images of ASEAN and the ASEAN Community in theinternational community.

With a proactive, enthusiastic andresponsible spirit, Vietnam would make more effective contributions toASEAN cooperation and work with other ASEAN members in building theASEAN Community of unity, connectivity and strength, contributing to thecommon goals of peace, stability and development in the region.

Also on August 8, the embassies of ASEAN member countries in Vietnam hoisted the ASEAN flag.

TheASEAN Secretariat organised a ceremony in Jakarta, Indonesia tocelebrate the 44th anniversary of the founding of ASEAN and hoist theASEAN flag, in the presence of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ofIndonesia, which chairs ASEAN in 2011 and ASEAN Secretary General SurinPitsuwan among others.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono saidASEAN had increasingly proved that it was a regional organisationcapable of solving its own issues effectively./.