58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Malaysia.
A strong and cohesive ASEAN
2025 is a special year, witnessing many historical milestones for ASEAN, when the Association celebrates the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN Community and opens a new development phase, towards the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 with the overarching goal of being “self-reliant, dynamic, creative and people-centered”. In the development process, the official formation of the ASEAN Community on December 31, 2015 with three pillars of politics - security, economy and culture - society has marked a qualitative development step, making ASEAN a strong and cohesive political - economic entity.
With high determination, ASEAN has continuously strived to affirm its stature, central role and focal position in regional processes, actively contributing to peace, security, cooperation and sustainable development in the world. Continuously achieving impressive results in the process of building the Community, ASEAN is considered a successful model of regional integration, increasingly receiving great respect and attention from countries and partners.
Among ASEAN's achievements, the most prominent are the "sweet fruits" from political-security cooperation, which have been promoted extensively and comprehensively across all diplomatic, defense, security, and judicial channels. ASEAN has promoted its tradition, promptly expressed its stance and common voice, demonstrated its solidarity as well as its role and responsibility in the face of developments affecting peace, security, stability, and development. In particular, on the East Sea issue, ASEAN continues to reaffirm its stance of respecting international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and made efforts to promote negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
In addition to politics and security, ASEAN economic cooperation continues to be a bright spot, with a forecast growth rate of 4.7% in 2025, far exceeding the world average. With a progressive and important macroeconomic environment, ASEAN strives to become the world's fourth largest economy by 2030. In addition to the determination to build a unified and highly connected economy, facilitating the freedom of goods, services, investment and labor, ASEAN prioritizes the development of a self-reliant, inclusive economy, adapting to the 4.0 Industrial Revolution and actively integrating globally, through a network of free trade agreements (FTAs).
In terms of socio-culture, ASEAN continues to affirm its increasingly important role in cooperation to strengthen solidarity, community identity and promote inclusive and sustainable growth. Many initiatives such as the ASEAN Village Network, the ASEAN One Health Network and the ASEAN Centre on Climate Change have been established. ASEAN has also recorded positive changes in improving welfare, education, healthcare, gender equality, promoting public services and the use of information technology, as well as raising public awareness about ASEAN.
Continuously developing both in breadth and depth in its foreign relations, ASEAN has affirmed its central role and is increasingly receiving attention and support from partners. In the context of increasing strategic competition among major countries, ASEAN mechanisms such as ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3, East Asia Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum... still maintain their strategic value, promoting dialogue and regional cooperation. More and more partners are proposing to establish and upgrade relations with ASEAN, expand substantive cooperation, especially in new areas such as green growth, digital transformation, climate change response... contributing to ensuring peace, security and sustainable development in the region.
Vietnam's commitment
2025 also marks the 30th anniversary of Vietnam joining the “common home” of ASEAN. The past 30 years have been a journey marking a Vietnam that has become more and more confident and proactive in participating in ASEAN as well as in the process of international and regional integration. Becoming an ASEAN member is considered a “breakthrough”, breaking the embargo, bringing our country step by step to deeply integrate with the region and reach the international level. The past 30 years have also affirmed that ASEAN is an important pillar in Vietnam's foreign policy.
In March 2025, within the framework of the State visit to the Republic of Indonesia, an official visit to the ASEAN Secretariat, at the ASEAN Secretariat headquarters in Jakarta, General Secretary To Lam attended the 30th Anniversary of Vietnam's accession to ASEAN and delivered an important policy speech. The General Secretary affirmed that since the beginning of opening up and integrating, Vietnam has always identified ASEAN as a multilateral cooperation mechanism with direct and top importance.
Over the past three decades since joining ASEAN in 1995, Vietnam has given top priority to consolidating and strengthening relations with neighboring and regional countries, making efforts to contribute to building a united, strong and self-reliant ASEAN Community. The Vietnamese leader affirmed that Vietnam's foreign policy priority in the coming time is to continue working with ASEAN to build a strong, united community, contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
Vietnam’s contributions in 30 years of accompanying ASEAN have been highly appreciated by researchers. According to Ms. Dinna Prapto Raharja, a research expert at the Synergy Policy Research Institute of Indonesia, Vietnam’s accession to ASEAN in 1995 has truly strengthened the geopolitical position of Southeast Asian countries. Vietnam’s continuous domestic reforms in recent times have also been a contribution of Vietnam, creating rapid development, especially impressive economic growth.
Vietnam has been consistent in implementing reforms, which can be a role model in ASEAN, despite changes around the world. Ideas from Vietnam also inspire other member states on how to adjust to a changing world.
The global geopolitical situation is constantly changing, and new challenges for ASEAN are also emerging. The trends of political polarization, population aging, resource depletion, diversification of markets, products, supply chains, greening of production, business and services... pose many difficult problems, but also open up rare opportunities for ASEAN to affirm its position and make a breakthrough.
At this historic new starting point, both Vietnam and ASEAN are moving towards ambitious goals. Vietnam pledges to continue joining hands with ASEAN countries to realise ASEAN’s historic mission and spread the Association’s success stories throughout the region and the world.
According to NDĐT
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/asean-tiep-tuc-la-hinh-mau-ve-hop-tac-va-lien-ket-khu-vuc-196158.htm
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