On the morning of October 13 in Hanoi, the 8th ASEAN Ministers' Conference on Sports officially opened.
The conference was attended by 200 delegates including Ministers, Deputy Ministers, heads of sports agencies of ASEAN countries and Timor Leste; along with senior officials in the industry, representatives of Japan, China and related international organizations.
Speaking at the opening of the Conference, Mr. Nguyen Danh Hoang Viet - Director of the Department of Physical Education and Sports of Vietnam (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) said that, looking back at the recent journey, ASEAN sports have achieved many achievements, Southeast Asian Sports Festivals have been a great success, the community sports movement has spread strongly, many athletes have made their mark in the continental and world competitions.
However, for sustainable development, the ASEAN region needs to face challenges such as social change, pressure from international integration, and the need to balance achievements and comprehensive development.
In that spirit, Director Nguyen Danh Hoang Viet suggested that ASEAN member countries join hands to implement 4 important orientations including: Sports for health and inclusion; High-performance sports associated with science - technology; Conservation and promotion of traditional sports; Regional and international cooperation.
"I believe that with the consensus of all member countries, we will build a dynamic, creative and sustainable ASEAN Sports Community, contributing to the common prosperity of the region while creating new impressions, contributing to making sports a driving force for community solidarity and common pride of the whole region," Mr. Viet emphasized.
The conference focused on many strategic contents such as developing professional sports associated with science - economy of sports; promoting gender equality, enhancing the participation of women, youth, people with disabilities; preserving and disseminating traditional sports with ASEAN identity; establishing the ASEAN High-performance Sports Center; promoting the role of sports in improving public health; promoting cooperation with dialogue countries such as Japan, China and international organizations...
One of the important highlights at AMMS 8 is coordinating with the ASEAN Secretariat to contribute documents and promote cooperation with many other partners such as Korea, the World Football Federation ( FIFA), the World Doping Prevention Organization (WADA) and the Regional Doping Prevention Organization (SEARado).
It is expected that at the conference, the sides will issue a Joint Statement and many important documents, evaluate the implementation of the ASEAN Sports Action Plan for the period 2021-2025, discuss strategies for the next period based on the results of high-level official conferences, and develop a sports cooperation plan for ASEAN - Japan, China and partners.
