Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip to Malaysia achieved many specific and substantive results.

Photo caption — Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attends the plenary session of the 47th ASEAN Summit and the handover ceremony of the second protocol amending the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA). Photo: Duong Giang/VNA

At the end of the working trip, Deputy Foreign Minister Dang Hoang Giang gave an interview to the press about the results achieved. Vietnam News Agency (VNA) respectfully introduces the interview content:

Could you tell us about the results of the ASEAN Summit and the Summits between ASEAN and its partners?

Taking place in the context of many changes in the world , posing challenges for the world and the region, the 47th ASEAN Summit and related Summits have just concluded with many important results. Among them are the following highlights:

First of all, the Conference acknowledged the achievements of 10 years of community building through the implementation of the ASEAN Vision 2025, which is the basis for ASEAN to successfully implement the ASEAN Community Vision (ACV) 2045 along with the Strategic Plans on politics - security, economics, culture - society and ASEAN connectivity. The Conference adopted nearly 70 documents under the three pillars of politics - security, economics and culture - society, concretizing ASEAN's commitment to the community building process and promoting partnerships in the coming time. The admission of Timor Leste is a memorable milestone, marking the second expansion of ASEAN after 30 years (the first was when Vietnam started in 1995). This is a timely addition to expand development space, creating new positions and strengths for the development process of the Association.

Second, ASEAN continues to demonstrate its central and leading role in maintaining peace and stability in the region, demonstrated by supporting Cambodia and Thailand to sign a Joint Statement implementing agreements to ensure peace and normalize relations at the border, contributing to strengthening the overall security and stability of the region. Countries also highly appreciated the role and efforts of the Malaysian Chair in promoting the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar; agreed that consensus continues to be the main direction for ASEAN's engagement efforts in the coming time, in which priority is given to ceasefire and ending acts of violence, resuming dialogue and deploying humanitarian aid to the people. The large participation of senior leaders of partner countries and international organizations such as the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of China, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the European Council... once again affirmed ASEAN's position in the policies of major partners and major countries in the world.

Third, the Summit once again affirmed ASEAN's position as a growth engine and an indispensable link in the global supply chain, trade and investment connectivity, with a GDP of 3.8 trillion USD in 2023, foreign investment of 226 billion USD in 2024 and a network of 8 trade agreements covering the entire region. In order to enhance economic autonomy and strengthen intra-bloc connectivity, ASEAN has upgraded the Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), basically completed the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) and promoted the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) connection. At the same time, ASEAN also agreed on a strategy to take advantage of major trends such as green economy, digital economy, artificial intelligence (AI), and respond to emerging challenges such as transnational crime, cybercrime, climate change, etc. The conference demonstrated ASEAN's long-term commitment to multilateralism through the effective implementation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with partners, with the highlight being the upgrading of the ASEAN-China FTA (ACFTA 3.0), promoting the upgrading of the FTA with Korea, and studying FTA negotiations with the European Union (EU) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

On this occasion, Vietnam continued to demonstrate its role as an active and responsible member, with two important contributions. Firstly, under the coordination of Vietnam, ASEAN and New Zealand issued a Joint Statement upgrading their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and adopted the Action Plan 2026-2030 to implement the newly established framework. Secondly, in its capacity as Chair of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Task Force, Vietnam chaired the development of the IAI Work Plan 2026-2030, which was approved by the Summit. This document aims to narrow the development gap, strengthen solidarity, and prioritize support for Timor Leste to catch up with the general integration process of ASEAN. Vietnam's role and efforts were thanked and highly appreciated by the countries.

In the common success, the profound, sincere and frank statements of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the conferences emphasized the importance of peace and stability, stating that this is a prerequisite for development, promoting the significance of ASEAN solidarity, affirming Vietnam's commitment to contribute to ASEAN, for the immediate interests of people and businesses. The Prime Minister's sharing, especially the proposal for ASEAN to strongly promote three strategic resources - solidarity strength, dynamic vitality and innovation resilience - were recognized and highly appreciated by member countries and partners for their sense of responsibility, correctness of content and feasibility and effectiveness of implementation direction.

Could you please share the main results of the bilateral meetings between the Vietnamese delegation and other countries and partners on this occasion?

In just 3 days of attending the Conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had bilateral meetings and contacts with leaders of more than 20 partners from all ASEAN countries, major partner countries, international and regional organizations. The meetings and exchanges, although short, achieved many specific and substantive results, the most notable of which were:

Firstly, political trust between Vietnam and other countries has been strengthened. All countries wish to strengthen relations with Vietnam. The fact that US President Donald Trump, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and many other leaders all agreed with Vietnam's proposal to increase high-level delegation exchanges in the coming time shows that countries recognize and appreciate Vietnam's role in the region, support Vietnam's stability, development, and increasingly important role in ASEAN and in the international arena.

Second, Vietnam and its important and key partners have reached consensus on many important issues, reflecting Vietnam's common interests with its partners. Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang agreed to actively promote the groundbreaking of the Hanoi - Hai Phong - Lao Cai high-speed railway. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would soon announce a $20 million project to build a smart coastal city that is resilient to natural disasters and climate change. World Bank (WB) Vice President Carlos Felipe Jaramillo affirmed that he would respond to Vietnam's requests to mobilize resources more quickly and effectively in supporting Vietnam's socio-economic development goals. In particular, a very important highlight on this occasion was that Vietnam and the United States announced a Joint Statement on the Reciprocal, Fair and Balanced Trade Agreement on October 26, 2025. These are all important steps that contribute to creating a stable and sustainable foundation in Vietnam's relations with important and key partners, contributing to mobilizing more external resources to realize the country's strategic goals, especially the double-digit growth target since the 14th Party Congress.

Third, in the exchange, it can be seen that the partners truly support and wish Vietnam to play a greater role in ASEAN, in the Asia-Pacific region as well as in the international arena. Leaders of many countries and international organizations are very impressed with the speed of development of Vietnam over the past decades. The partners all affirmed that they respect the role and position of Vietnam, and hope that Vietnam will support the promotion of cooperation between countries and ASEAN. This shows that the countries see Vietnam as one of the key member countries, capable of leading in ASEAN. In the context that Vietnam is promoting the implementation of Resolution 59 of the Politburo on international integration in the new situation and raising the level of multilateral diplomacy, the trust and support of international friends is a very valuable "political capital" for Vietnam to make greater contributions to world politics, the global economy and human civilization, as the Party and General Secretary To Lam have repeatedly emphasized.

Could you please tell us the specific directions for implementing the results of Vietnam's participation in this ASEAN Summit?

This conference concludes ASEAN 2025, a pivotal year marking ASEAN’s entry into a new stage of development. The results achieved in the Prime Minister’s meetings and discussions with leaders of countries and organizations also need to be promoted. Therefore, the implementation of multifaceted results is of special importance, requiring proactive and synchronous participation from all ministries, branches and localities.

Regarding direction and management, Vietnam needs to soon develop a master plan and corresponding action programs to implement the ASEAN Community Vision (ACV) 2045, integrating the major orientations of the pillar resolutions issued by the Politburo, thereby synchronously and comprehensively implementing ACV 2045, together with ASEAN, catching up with major trends and breaking through in the new era of national development.

The implementation work needs to ensure two criteria, one is not only focusing on quantity but also on quality, two is this is not only the task of the agencies in charge of the pillars or sectors but also the common task of the political system to ensure inter-sectoral cohesion in the country and effective inter-pillar coordination in ASEAN. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on raising awareness of ministries, sectors and localities about their roles and responsibilities for long-term implementation.

At the same time, ministries and branches need to proactively plan to put completed or soon-to-be-completed documents such as ATIGA, ACFTA 3.0, and DEFA into practice to unlock the potential of commitments and agreements, bringing direct and tangible benefits to businesses and people.

Regarding specific tasks, in the immediate future, Vietnam needs to actively contribute to building ASEAN solidarity, especially in efforts to resolve the Myanmar issue, implement the Cambodia-Thailand peace agreement, contribute to maintaining a peaceful, stable and favorable environment for ASEAN, and pursue the long-term goals stated in ACV 2045. In addition, it is necessary to focus on supporting Timor Leste to improve its capacity and effectively integrate into ASEAN on all three pillars. As a country that joined ASEAN first and has achieved many achievements after 30 years of joining ASEAN, Vietnam is in a suitable position to share experiences and provide comprehensive support to Timor Leste in this process. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also promoting the early opening of an Embassy in Timor Leste, contributing to the effective implementation of the task.

Finally, it is necessary to urgently implement the agreements and commitments that Vietnam and its partners have reached at bilateral meetings within the framework of the Conference, including delegation exchanges, promoting economic-trade cooperation, food security, energy, and especially thoroughly resolving existing issues to remove the EU's IUU yellow card. Ministries, branches, localities and enterprises need to coordinate closely, actively and urgently to ensure synchronous and effective implementation of the results achieved with partners.

Thank you very much, Deputy Minister!

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/chuyen-cong-tac-toi-malaysia-cua-thu-tuong-pham-minh-chinh-dat-nhieu-ket-qua-cu-the-thuc-chat-20251028193115781.htm