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Photo : Elysee.fr. "Le Liban n'est pas seul"     5 days after the Beirut explosion which took away lives of hundreds and left thousands homeless, French President Emmanuel Macron called for an emergency conference, together with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.   At the "International Conference on Assistance and Support to Beirut and the Lebanese People," The participants from 28 countries and 7 international organizations* extended their sincere condolences to the victims and residents of Beirut and shown deep respect to the medical staffs and personnel from and outside of Lebanon for immediate aid. They decided to act in solidarity to assist Beirut in a timely, sufficient and consistent manner, under the coordination and direction of the UN.   This was a consolidated act of international community, showing to the world that heartfelt cooperation, friendship and partnership is there to for Lebanon.   * At this virtual meeting, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United-Kingdom and the United-States of America, as well as the League of Arab States, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank (WB) participated.   Sources Elysee.fr (2020-08-09) “Conférence internationale de soutien et d'appui à Beyrouth et au peuple libanais.” Retrieved from https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2020/08/09/conference-internationale-de-soutien-et-dappui-a-beyrouth-et-au-peuple-libanais   BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)

  The 17th MIKTA Foreign Ministers Meeting was held via video-conference on July 17. Hosted by Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa from Korea, the first virtual meeting with the foreign ministers was joined by Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, and Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne.   During the meeting, Ministers discussed ways to strengthen multilateralism during COVID-19. They agreed on the importance of multilateralism for international cooperation and solidarity, and MIKTA countries share the responsibility to act together, especially in the midst of COVID-19 crisis.   MIKTA Foreign Ministers’ Joint Statement on the Elections held at the United Nations General Assembly was adopted.     BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)    

Photo : AA. Speaker Sentop with Ambassadors from ASEAN countries   Turkish Speaker Mustafa Sentop met with envoys from ASEAN Member States, who are also part of ASEAN Ankara Committee (ACC), in Ankara, June 29. All seven ASEAN countries forming AAC participated in the meeting. Attendees to the meeting include Ambassadors from Brunei Darussalam, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and Charge d’Affaires from Malaysia and Cambodia.   During the meeting with ACC, Speaker Sentop stressed the importance of international solidarity, cooperation and collaborative act, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. He added that Turkey has been fighting effectively against the pandemic working in solidarity with other countries to curb the spread and its global impacts.   <Sources>   AA. (2020-06-30) . "Turkey's parliament speaker meets with ASEAN envoys". Retrieved from https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkeys-parliament-speaker-meets-with-asean-envoys/1894149   BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)

Photo: ASEAN. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, ASEAN Chair of 2020, during the opening ceremony of the 36th ASEAN Summit   On June 26, the Heads of State and Government of ASEAN Member States gathered via video conference for the 36th ASEAN Summit. The theme of the Summit was “Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN in 2020.”   The Summit was chaired by Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of Vietnam and ASEAN Chair of 2020. The main issues raised during the discussion were measures to combat COVID-19 and to strengthen unity within Southeast Asia.   During the discussion regarding COVID-19, Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean Prime Minister, proposed to share technology, treatments, and vaccines and maintain trade flows in the meantime. He also invited other nations to use Singapore’s contact tracing app. The participants of the Summit agreed that in order to tackle the pandemic efficiently, all ASEAN Member States have to cooperate and share relevant data under strong unity. Also, the necessity of building an ASEAN economic community to recover from economic damage caused by the pandemic was also highlighted.   For the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, Member States expressed their willingness to strengthen partnership among nations and solidarity within the community. Diverse projects and initiatives to reach the common goal of the community were planned and suggested, and were included in the Chairman’s Statement.   The attached file is the Chairman’s Statement of the 36th Asean Summit.     [Sources] ASEANToday. (2020, June 28) Vietnam hosts virtual ASEAN summit: How they covered it. Retrieved from https://www.aseantoday.com/2020/06/vietnam-hosts-virtual-asean-summit-how-they-covered-it/     BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)