Foreign ministers of other Southeast Asian countries have applauded Vietnam for its coming hosting of the ASEAN Sea Forum and the ASEAN Sea Forum Plus late this month, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday. 

The ministers gave the applause when attending the 47th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM-47), the 4th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and the 21st ASEAN Regional Forum that took place in Myanmar from Saturday to Monday.

The coming sea forums hosted by Vietnam will create good opportunities for ASEAN countries to discuss and exchange initiatives and measures to boost cooperation among the bloc’s country members, narrow the development gaps among them, and cope with their common challenges, for the sake of peace, stability and development in the region, ASEAN foreign ministers said.

In the meetings in Myanmar, the East Vietnam Sea issue remained a key topic for discussion among the ASEAN foreign ministers, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

At the AMM-47, the foreign ministers issued a Joint Communiqué in which they expressed their serious concern about the recent developments that had increased tensions in the East Vietnam Sea.

They reaffirmed their commitments to what is stipulated in the 2012 ASEAN’s Six-Point Principles on the East Vietnam Sea, the 2012 Joint Statement of the 15th ASEAN-China Summit on the 10th Anniversary of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Vietnam Sea, and the Statement on the current developments in the East Vietnam Sea issued by the ASEAN foreign ministers on May 10, 2014.

They also emphasized the need to conclude a Code of Conduct on the East Vietnam Sea (COC) in order to maintain peace, stability, maritime security and safety in the Southeast Asian region.

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