ASEAN has been going through this year difficulties in a cohesive and responsive manner largely thanks to Vietnam’s leadership. Vietnam is going to finish its ASEAN Chair 2020 that has been unfolding in an incredibly difficult time when the region is threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic and aggravated by severe natural disasters. “Vietnam is a respectable, trustworthy, and constructive member of ASEAN,” Dr Frederick Kliem,  Visiting Fellow with the Centre for Multilateralism Studies at RSIS. “Vietnam has an active and leading role in the ASEAN political-security community, particularly in regional and maritime security,” he said, noting that Vietnam is progressing quickly in the region and is playing an important role in connecting the five founding member states of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand and also with CLM countries (Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar).