Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính on Wednesday attends the plenary session of the 44th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos. VNA/VNA Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính emphasised that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must continue to foster solidarity, with resilience as its foundation, as it enters a new phase of development.

The Prime Minister said it should begin with a fresh mindset, a new vision, renewed momentum and a forward-looking outlook.

He made the remarks on Wednesday while leading a high-level Vietnamese delegation to attend the opening ceremony and deliver a keynote speech at the 44th-45th ASEAN Summit plenary session.

In his remarks at the summit, PM Chính expressed his appreciation for the support and shared sympathies from ASEAN countries in dealing with the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, which affected several nations, including Việt Nam. He underscored that solidarity and mutual support continue to be core values and sources of strength for ASEAN.

Amid an increasingly volatile global landscape with numerous challenges, PM Chính highlighted that ASEAN remains a global economic bright spot, a bridge for dialogue and cooperation and a key player in integration and connectivity processes in the region.

He pointed out that frameworks for the digital economy, blue ocean economy and circular economy are gradually shaping new areas of cooperation in the region.

Agreeing with the theme for ASEAN 2024, ‘Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience’, PM Chính stressed that now, more than ever, ASEAN should use resilience as a foundation for growth, connectivity as a driving force for breakthroughs, and innovation as a catalyst for leadership.

Prime Minister Chính on Wednesday speaks at the plenary session of the 44th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos. VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

Based on this, he shared several key strategic directions for ASEAN moving forward.

Firstly, resilience and strategic autonomy should be the foundation for ASEAN to remain steadfast in the face of any turbulence and to overcome challenges. ASEAN needs to strengthen solidarity and unity in diversity, uphold behavioural norms and stay committed to its principled positions on international and regional issues. The bloc must enhance its internal resilience and leverage endogenous resources to maintain strategic stability and respond swiftly to external risks.

Secondly, promoting internal and external connectivity, public-private partnerships and cross-sectoral linkages is vital, with a focus on infrastructure, institutions and people as strategic breakthroughs. ASEAN should invest in high-quality infrastructure and encourage third-party and external partner participation. The bloc should also work on harmonising institutions to facilitate the flow of goods, services, and investments. Moreover, ASEAN must foster people-to-people connectivity, promote cultural exchange and make travel easier for citizens, businesspeople and workers.

He stressed that innovation is the key driver and catalyst for ASEAN to keep pace with, advance alongside and surpass regional and global developments. Therefore, ASEAN must strengthen cooperation in developing an innovation ecosystem, advancing regional digital cooperation frameworks and simultaneously creating governance standards for emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI). ASEAN should also focus on people as the centre, subject, goal, resource and driving force of innovation and enhance cooperation in education and training high-quality human resources to meet the demands of the new era.

PM Chính expressed confidence that Timor Leste’s upcoming membership would further strengthen ASEAN and the region’s resilience. He also emphasised that ASEAN must maintain its central, independent and balanced role while adhering to principled conduct in external relations, expanding and diversifying partnerships.

The Prime Minister announced that Việt Nam will continue hosting the ASEAN Future Forum in 2025 and looks forward to support from other member states for a successful event.

PM Chính reaffirmed Việt Nam’s support for and close coordination with Malaysia in its role as ASEAN Chair in 2025, aiming to achieve new milestones in marking the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN Community.

In his address, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn highlighted the significant progress made in ASEAN cooperation over the past year, despite challenges both within and outside the region.

The Master Plans for the ASEAN Community 2025 have entered their final phase, with a high implementation rate across all three pillars, particularly the political-security pillar, which has reached 99.6 per cent. ASEAN has maintained positive economic growth and remains an attractive investment destination, with total foreign direct investment in 2023 amounting to US$230 billion, second only to that of the US.

Frameworks such as the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, the holistic Blue Economy Framework and the Circular Economy Framework serve as foundations for ASEAN to quickly align with new development trends and generate momentum for sustainable and high-quality growth in the future.

Leaders congratulated Laos for its successful chairmanship of ASEAN in 2024 and praised the initiatives and priorities implemented across the three community pillars. Notably, these include the development of strategies to implement the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, cooperation to strengthen supply chain connectivity, strategic restructuring to bridge the development gap, and efforts to enhance healthcare and climate resilience, as well as the role and participation of women and children.

The member states agreed on the need to further define and deepen the concepts of connectivity and resilience in ASEAN’s new cooperation strategies, improving the bloc's adaptability to the current complex and profound global shifts.

Welcoming recent advances in cooperation between ASEAN and its partners, the member countries also agreed on the importance of maintaining ASEAN’s strategic balance in external relations.

They reiterated their call for partners to respect ASEAN’s centrality and to work with the bloc in promoting the values of dialogue, cooperation, trust, and rule of law, while contributing constructively and responsibly to peace, security and stability. — VNS