ASEAN is a community, each country is stronger, the whole bloc is stronger.

On the morning of October 26, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended a high-level dialogue session within the framework of the ASEAN Business & Investment Summit (ABIS) 2025.

At the dialogue session, answering questions from the Program Coordinator about Vietnam's key economic priorities and how to balance growth with sustainable development, autonomy and integration, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that in recent years, despite many difficulties and challenges, the world economy has slowed down, multilateralism has faced many challenges, and the supply chain has been broken, Vietnam has still maintained economic growth, while stabilizing the macro-economy, controlling inflation, and ensuring major balances of the economy.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attends a high-level dialogue session at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

PHOTO: NHAT BAC

In the coming time, Vietnam will continue to promote growth drivers, including renewing traditional drivers. The Prime Minister stated that Vietnam determines that growth must be fast but sustainable and inclusive, that is the consistent ideology; balancing between promoting self-reliance and deep, substantive and effective international integration.

In response to the coordinator's request to shape Vietnam's next development program in the field of innovation and digital transformation, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that Vietnam identifies digital transformation as an objective requirement, a strategic choice, and a top priority, both in thinking and action.

According to the Prime Minister, digital transformation must create a movement, a trend, and to build a digital government, develop a digital society and a digital economy, there must be digital human resources and digital citizens. Therefore, Vietnam has launched and implemented the "Digital Education for All" movement under the direction of General Secretary To Lam, so that all citizens can learn, participate in the digital transformation process and enjoy the results of this process.

Regarding the coordinator's question about the role and contribution of ASEAN and Vietnam in restoring the supply chain and keeping the market open; what Vietnam and ASEAN do to always be a reliable partner for the global business community, the Prime Minister said that life always has difficulties, and so do the economies of countries in the current context.

Program coordinator, Ms. Rachel Eng, CEO of Eng and Co. LLC and ASEAN BAC member in Singapore, said that in recent years, Vietnam has emerged as one of the most dynamic growth engines in Asia.

PHOTO: NHAT BAC

The Prime Minister said that what the world admires about ASEAN is the principle of solidarity, unity in diversity, self-reliance, the role of the growth focal point, the goal of inclusive development, placing people at the center, the subject, the resource, and the driving force of development; therefore, it is necessary to continue promoting ASEAN's central role, placing ASEAN in the world as a whole, and then based on ASEAN's specific conditions to determine the guidelines, vision, actions and coordination between economies appropriate to the situation.

The Prime Minister gave an example: when the global supply chain is broken, ASEAN countries must strengthen the connection of the intra-bloc supply chain. Or when the policies of foreign countries cause impacts, ASEAN countries must improve their self-reliance, support, and increase the opening of their economies to compensate for the impacts and losses.

The Prime Minister suggested that ASEAN countries increase exchanges, build, harmonize and improve the quality of institutions, turning institutions into competitiveness; at the same time, connect comprehensive infrastructure including hard infrastructure, soft infrastructure, cultural-social infrastructure, transportation, digital transformation, etc.

Along with that, promoting high-quality human resource training to adapt to the new situation, promoting resources from ASEAN's large and young population, this is ASEAN's competitive advantage that needs to be highly promoted.

Mutual support for smart governance, including national governance, corporate governance; building good institutions to call for and attract foreign investment, harmoniously and effectively combining internal and external resources, in which internal resources are fundamental, strategic, long-term, decisive, external resources are important, breakthroughs in capital, investment, technology, governance...

According to the Prime Minister, these are important orientations and pillars on the foundation of ASEAN's solidarity and unity in diversity, but implementation must be flexible to connect economies and develop self-reliance, quickly and sustainably.

Each country needs to harmonize in the development process.

Appreciating Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's comprehensive approach, in the final question, the coordinator said that Vietnam has affirmed its strong support for multilateralism and regional integration, asking the Prime Minister to tell about Vietnam's role in ASEAN in the coming time when ASEAN outlines the next economic agenda.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh answers questions

PHOTO: NHAT BAC

The Prime Minister emphasized that ASEAN is a community, and when each country is stronger, the whole bloc becomes stronger. And vice versa, when ASEAN is stronger, each country benefits from the strength of the bloc. Therefore, each country needs to harmonize in the development process, both maintaining its independence and autonomy and contributing to the common development of ASEAN; both building each country's economy independently and self-reliant, and also contributing to building an independent and self-reliant economy of ASEAN.

The Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam is ready to contribute in terms of institutions, infrastructure, human resource training, and governance, especially in priority areas such as digital transformation, green transformation, circular economy, creative economy, science and technology development, and innovation, which are the foundation for rapid and sustainable development.

Countries need to share experiences, learn from each other, promote each other in the development process and this has the role of businesses in connecting businesses, connecting economies, connecting people and cultures.

At the end of the dialogue, when the program coordinator assessed the contents that the Prime Minister shared about Vietnam's development priorities, innovation strategy and commitment to sustainable and comprehensive growth as being suitable for ASEAN and beneficial for all delegates, the Prime Minister hoped that the delegates would come to Vietnam with the spirit of sharing vision and action, growing together, developing together, enjoying the results together, sharing joy and happiness when working together.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/asean-la-mot-cong-dong-moi-quoc-gia-manh-len-la-ca-khoi-manh-len-185251026140401184.htm