Good morning everyone, let me introduce myself.

My name is Thư, a member

of group 8. My group includes Thao Nhi, Van, Quynh Anh and Nhat. Today I am here
to present to you about Vietnam and ASEAN. My talk will be divided into three parts.
I will start with what ASEAN is, then I will talk about the countries in the ASEAN
bloc and when Vietnam joined ASEAN, the final part is about the pros and cons of
Vietnam joining ASEAN. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.

Let me start with some general information about ASEAN. Do you know
what ASEAN stands for?
ASEAN stands for “Association of South East-Asian Nations”, an economic, cultural
and social organization of countries in Southeast Asia. This organization was founded
on “August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand”

Then let’s find out which countries are in the ASEAN bloc. Does anyone here know
how many countries the ASEAN bloc includes? Exactly, thank you very much.
The ASEAN bloc includes 10 member countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Vietnam
officially joined ASEAN on July 28, 1995, on the occasion of the 28th ASEAN
Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Brunei.

So now we come to the next point. What are the advantages of Vietnam joining
ASEAN?
Joining ASEAN has been really good for Vietnam in several ways:
Firstly, I will talk about better business opportunities: Being in ASEAN
helps Vietnamese businesses trade more easily with neighboring countries. This means
they can sell their stuff to more people, which creates more jobs and makes Vietnam's
economy stronger. This helps lots of people in Vietnam have better lives.
Secondly, I will discuss stronger friendships: Vietnam has made good friends
with other ASEAN countries. This has led to sharing cultures and ideas, and everyone
feels like they're on the same team. Vietnam has learned from other countries and
improved itself.
Furthermore, Vietnam has had a say: Vietnam gets to attend important
discussions and decisions in the region thanks to ASEAN. This means Vietnam can
help make the rules and plans for the area. This makes Vietnam's voice stronger in the
world and helps promote peace and cooperation.
The final benefit is working together: Vietnam and the other ASEAN
countries team up to achieve common goals, like making education, healthcare, and
the environment better. This teamwork helps everyone in the region get ahead.
 In short, being part of ASEAN has given Vietnam a lot of advantages. It's
helped Vietnam's businesses, friendships, influence in the world, and teamwork. With
more cooperation, Vietnam will keep growing and doing well in the ASEAN
community.

This leads me to my next point, which is about some challenges and difficulties that
Vietnam has had to deal with when it joined ASEAN:
One significant challenge for Vietnam is tougher competition: When
Vietnam became part of ASEAN, it meant more competition for Vietnamese
businesses. They had to get better to keep up. This was especially hard for smaller
businesses.
The second difficulty is the language and cultural differences: The countries
in ASEAN have different languages, cultures, and traditions. Understanding each
other can be tricky. To work together, it's important to communicate well and respect
each other's cultures. This takes a lot of work, like learning about each other and being
polite.

Well, I’ve covered all the points that I need to present today. Thank you all for
listening, it was a pleasure being here today. And now, if you have any questions, I
would be pleased to answer them.