Asean, US vow to cooperate to contain Covid outbreak

 Leaders from Asean and the United States have pledged to strengthen their cooperation in key priority areas, particularly the joint battle against the Covid-19 epidemic.
 The leaders met at the virtual and hybrid Asean-US foreign ministers’ meeting on September 23, held on the sidelines of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
 Lao Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Saleumxay Kommasith attended the meeting, which reviewed the achievements made since the Asean-US special foreign ministerial meeting in July and Asean-US Ministerial Meeting in August.
 The two sides discussed the implementation of the 2021-2025 action plan for Asean-US cooperation.

 The leaders agreed to work together to contain the spread of Covid-19 through the exchange of information and good practices.
 They agreed to deepen their collaboration in research and development, joint production of Covid-19 vaccines, equitable access to vaccines through the COVAX Facility, and economic recovery.
 They also agreed to cooperate in digital economy and sustainable development, Asean connectivity, human resource development, and narrowing the development gap between Asean member countries.  
 During the meeting, Mr Saleumxay thanked US and Asean member countries for providing vaccines and medical supplies to support Laos’ battle against Covid-19. 
 In addition, leaders shared the ways in which US and Asean countries were responding to the Covid-19 outbreak and discussed good practices on how to curb the spread of the virus.  
 They also discussed preparations for the 9th Asean-US Summit, to be held next month.

By Times Reporters
  (Latest Update September 26, 2021)