Vietnam PM: ASEAN will maintain close ties with US

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Sunday said his country and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) bloc as a whole would retain close ties with the US regardless of who takes office.

President Donald Trump is refusing to accept the results of an election that delivered victory for Democrat Joe Biden.

Phuc said Vietnam "respects the decision of the American people" and will remain a "close friend" to the US, after concluding the ASEAN summit and a series of related meetings with its partners.

On Sunday, the Southeast Asian bloc signed the RCEP free trade agreement, a trade pact led by China that accounts for a third of the world's economy.

Apart from the 10-member ASEAN bloc, it includes China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, but not the United States.

Phuc said the accord leaves the door open for India, which dropped out due to fierce domestic opposition to its market-opening requirements, to rejoin the bloc.

ASEAN members include Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei, which takes over the presidency of the block next year.