In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency’s reporters in Malaysia, Dr. Hoo Chiew Ping, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Studies and International Relations under the National University of Malaysia, said that since joining ASEAN, Vietnam has been able to maximise the benefits of the ASEAN platforms. They include regional integration, regional identification and the political reconciliation which resulted in Vietnam’s eventual successful market and economic development, both at the intra-ASEAN and ASEAN dialogue partner levels. Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the scholar added that Vietnam has performed exceptionally well, adding that the country is among country with the least number of infection, and no fatality. She went on to say that as ASEAN Chair, Vietnam is expected to encourage other members to invest more trust into the intra-ASEAN cooperation, as the region will be a leading pandemic response model that is to recover swiftly compared to others./.