Deputy Prime Minister and ForeignMinister Pham Gia Khiem has urged relevant ministries and agencies tospeed up preparations for upcoming activities for the year as Vietnamassumes the ASEAN Chair.

Khiem made the request at the fifth session of the 2010 ASEANNational Committee, which aimed to review the organisation of the 16thASEAN Summit and discuss the implementation of upcoming activitiesduring the ASEAN Chair year, held in Hanoi on April 29.

The activities include the 15th anniversary of Vietnam ’sadmission to ASEAN, the 43rd founding anniversary of the association,the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and other related meetings.

The 17th ASEAN Summit, the East Asia Summit, and a summit betweenASEAN and its partners to be held in October will be important eventsduring the year.

At the session, Deputy PM Khiem said that the 16th ASEAN Summit, thefirst high-ranking meeting in 2010, concluded successfully. Under thetheme of “Towards the ASEAN Community: from Vision to Action”, thesummit reached a number of agreements on the implementation of the ASEANCharter and the building of the ASEAN Community, cooperation in copingwith global challenges, ASEAN’s foreign relations and its role in theregion.

The summit adopted the Statement on Sustained Recovery andDevelopment and the Statement on Joint Response to Climate Change.

22 related activities and events, 10 bilateral meetings betweenVietnam and other regional countries and 10 bilateral meetings amongASEAN members also took place during the April 5-9 summit, which drewthe participation of nearly 500 delegates and over 600 domestic andforeign reporters./.