PHNOM PENH, July 1 (NNN-AKP) – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia, on Tuesday, vowed to work with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and relevant agencies, to enhance collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Cambodian foreign ministry’s press statement.
The statement was released after the special ASEAN-Australia foreign ministers’ meeting on COVID-19 via video conference.
“The meeting agreed to work with relevant international organisations, especially the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the global community, to enhance collective pandemic preparedness and response and to prevent its long-term impacts,” it said.
During the virtual meeting, Cambodian Foreign Minister, Prak Sokhonn said, ASEAN has been very active, since the beginning of the crisis, in galvanising collective response, not only among ASEAN member states but also with their external partners, the statement said.
“The proactive approach of ASEAN can send a clear message that, in time of crisis, the international communities in fact need to ramp up coordinated and collective response, as well as, international solidarity.”
Sokhonn, who is also deputy prime minister, said, ASEAN and Australia need to stay vigilant of a second wave of infection, as countries are beginning to draft their own respective road-map for easing the COVID-19 restriction.
“We must continue to intensify our efforts to defeat this pandemic together on all fronts, as our respective governments have committed at the 73rd World Health Assembly,” he said.
He added that as part of the economic recovery plan, a concrete action can be done through the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), at the earliest possible time.– NNN-AKP
