Japanese official: Vietnam’s holding of Special ASEAN+3 Summit of significance

Former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan Asano Katsuhito (Source: VNA)

Talking to Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Tokyo, Asano explained that during the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam has taken the most rapid and effective measures.

He noted that the number of infection cases has just surpassed 200, with no fatalities reported so far, which, he said, is an outstanding achievement in the context that the disease difficult to be controlled over the world.

He showed his belief that with this achievement, Vietnam will well fulfill its role as the chair of the Special ASEAN+3 Summit on COVID-19, and its anti-disease measures under the direction of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc are really a model for other countries.

Assessing the importance of cooperation and coordination among ASEAN+3 in the fight against the pandemic, Asano emphasized building bilateral and multilateral cooperation and connectivity framework in disease prevention and control is essential and well-timed.

Countries have their own response measures, but the sharing of information, science - technology and medical experience between them is necessary, he added.

According to him, ASEAN member states, and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea should take the occasion to come up with a common mechanism to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regarding Japan’s support for ASEAN countries in this fight, the official said that his country is willing to provide financial assistance for them.

He noted that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had committed to supporting ASEAN countries as much as possible even after the pandemic ends, especially in the period of economic recovery./.

VNA