Although the countries of Africa - the Middle East are increasingly "oriented East", attaching importance to cooperation with ASEAN, including Vietnam in many fields. However, the two-way turnover in 2020 of Vietnam with Middle East-African countries will only reach over 23 billion USD. This shows the importance of re-examining the potentials, advantages, disadvantages, barriers and market access methods in Africa and the Middle East, in order to find effective solutions. In order to continue to effectively implement the Prime Minister's Project "Developing Relations between Vietnam and Middle East and African Countries 2016-2025".

On the morning of September 8, 2020, at the 3D Hall, headquarters 1A, Lieu Giai, Ba Dinh, Hanoi, the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VAST) organized the association. International seminar "ASEAN post-Covid-19: Current status and issues" with the participation of many scientists, domestic and international experts, and the presence of a number of delegates from the ambassador of Southeast Asian countries in Hanoi and online participation of some scientists from ASEAN countries such as Cambodia, Philippines, Singapore and India. The workshop was conducted by Assoc. Bui Nhat Quang, President of VAST and Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Huy Hoang Director of the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies co-chair.

On the afternoon of July 27, 2020, at the 3D Hall, 1A Lieu Giai, Ba Dinh, Hanoi, the Institute for African and Middle East Studies (IAMES) of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) was coordinated with the Embassy of Israel in Vietnam to organize an online seminar "The situation of the Middle East in 2020: An overview" with the participation of some former Vietnamese ambassadors in the Middle East such as: Former Vietnamese Ambassadors Male in the UAE, Mr. Nguyen Quang Khai, Former Ambassador of Vietnam to Saudi Arabia, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Tran Nguyen Tuyen and a number of senior researchers from the Center for Policy Studies (Israel Foreign Ministry), IAMES and representatives of several international research institutes under VASS. The seminar was led by Mr. Nadav Eshcar, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Israel to Vietnam and Assoc.Prof.Dr. Le Phuoc Minh, Director of the Institute of Middle East and African Studies co-chair.

In the afternoon of March 2nd, 2020, at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Bui Nhat Quang, President of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences had a meeting with Indian Ambassador in Vietnam - Mr. Pranay Verma.

In the afternoon of February 10, 2020, at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Bui Nhat Quang, President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (the Academy) had a meeting and worked with the Korean Ambassador in ASEAN - Mr. Lim Sungnam.