Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam delivered speech at the opening ceremony of the 38th Conference of the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations (CAFEO 38)

In the morning of November 25 ^th, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam delivered a speech at the 38 ^thConference of the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations (CAFEO 38). The Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations website (vusta.vn) would like to quote the whole speech of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam

 First of all, on behalf of the Vietnamese government, I would like to warmly welcome all the delegates, engineers, technicians representing diplomatic missions who are attending the annual CAFEO 38.

In the context of fighting against COVID-19 pandemic by the entire global, this first online conference is an excellent expression of the creative initiative to overcome challenges together for a cohesive and proactive ASEAN community. Our Government highly appreciates the creative and responsible spirit of the federation and all the attendants. I wish the conference great success and this will be an unforgettable event of the history of the federation. Looking back on the history of the establishment of ASEAN and of the federation, we are all very proud of our cooperation in making a war-torn Southeast Asia region more and more develop, building it a united community and we will act for peace, cooperation and prosperity.

We are also very proud that ASEAN recently has been a region with high economic growth, fast socio-economic infrastructure development, doing well to develop human resources and strengthening science and technology potential compared to other regions in the world.

The federation of ASEAN organizations and the indispensable role of engineers and technicians gave an important contribution in obtaining these achievements.

Since the establishment of ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, it is said that our region has entered a new phase and ASEAN has been expected to be a vibrant, economically motivated region in order to boost the regulation of goods, services, human resources and investment capital not only within the region but also all over the world. The theme of the conference shows a deep understanding about the responsibility of engineers and technicians across ASEAN and the federation for our region.

We all know that even though the trend of peace and cooperation is still the key matters and we also face a number of opportunities for the advancement of science and technology, the whole world, region and each country are encountering many challenges, especially non-traditional security issues. Some weeks ago, Vietnam and Philippines were hit by intense series of typhoons which caused loss and damage regarding people and property. In addition, the risks of cyber security and cybercrimes are increasingly complicated.

More than ever, our ASEAN needs to enhance the capacity of responding to new risks by developing technical infrastructure, strengthening professional forces and especially the willingness of each citizen’s skills to get involved in the development in which the role of engineers and technicians is very important not only for expertise but also for a sense of responsibility and action for the community.

High-qualified human resources development has been always the key policy and given top priority by Vietnamese government. We believe that this policy is also paid much attention by other countries in ASEAN. In order to improve the efficiency of cooperation in the field of human resources in general and high-qualified human resources in particular, we need to promote the spirit of cooperation not only in training but also harmonizing qualification, recognizing certificates and degrees among the region and more importantly we promote technical cooperation initiatives and infrastructure integration initiatives such as the ASEAN program on connectivity approved by the summit.

We believe that this conference will give us a number of useful solutions and recommendations not only to member organizations but also to governments in the region. Vietnamese government affirms that it will create favorable conditions for the engineers, technicians of Vietnam and other countries in ASEAN to develop and actively participate in cooperation programs, initiatives of the federation and the countries in ASEAN. We all will act for a peaceful, cooperative and prosperous ASEAN. Wish the conference great success!