The consultations were co-chaired by Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshi Kajiyama and Korean Minister of Trade Yoo Myung-hee.

Having expressed their concern over the harmful impacts of COVID-19 on the lives of people in the region, the ministers agreed to continue consolidating cooperation to overcome the pandemic and develop economies, including maintaining supply chains, especially for necessities such as medical supplies and food.

They highlighted the need to maintain the trust of the regional business community and focus resources on promoting socio-economic stability, in particular signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) this year.

In order to effectively realise the ASEAN+3 joint declaration on mitigating the adverse impacts of COVID-19 adopted by ASEAN+3 ministers on June 4 the ministers pledged to enhance cooperation to carry out the action plan and stand ready to cope with contingencies in the region.

The ministers welcomed the progress made in the RCEP negotiations as well as moves to prepare for its signing later this year.

They reaffirmed the importance of bringing the RCEP into life to bolster businesses’ trust and strengthen the regional economic architecture, and expressed support for an open multilateral trade system based on common principles./.

CPV (Source: VNA)