Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh: ASEAN strongly promotes '5 more' with three cooperation focuses

(Chinhphu.vn) - On the morning of May 26, at the Kuala Lumpur National Convention Center, Malaysia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh led a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to attend the Plenary Session of the 46th ASEAN Summit.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh believes that with shared beliefs and vision, ASEAN will overcome all fluctuations and move forward strongly - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

The meeting was chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, ASEAN Chair 2025, with the participation of senior leaders of ASEAN member countries and Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and the ASEAN Secretary-General.

At the meeting, senior leaders of the countries expressed their condolences and deep sorrow at the news of the passing of formerPresident Tran Duc Luong and highly appreciated the former President's important contributions to Vietnam's innovation, development and regional and international integration.

Leaders of the countries expressed their support for the topical theme of "Inclusive and Sustainable" cooperation, reflecting ASEAN's urgent need to promote equitable, resilient, united development and effectively respond to common challenges such as climate change, energy security, transnational crime, and natural disasters. The countries affirmed that ASEAN is a bright spot in global growth with a growth rate of 4.8% in 2024 and a forecast of 4.7% in 2025, with intra-bloc cooperation and cooperation with partners constantly expanding, and its central role, position, and prestige increasingly consolidated.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh leads a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to attend the Plenary Session of the 46th ASEAN Summit - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

To maintain its achievements in a volatile global context, ASEAN needs to promote its internal potential, support a rules-based multilateral trading system, effectively utilize existing trade agreements, expand linkages and connections, proactively lead and shape the future of the region through frameworks and initiatives such as the ASEAN Power Grid, the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, etc.

In that spirit, ASEAN leaders agreed to adopt the document "ASEAN 2045: Our Common Future", including the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and strategies on politics-security, economics, culture-society and connectivity, establishing a strategic foundation for ASEAN cooperation and integration in the coming decades.

The countries agreed that the implementation of the 2045 strategies should not stop at political declarations, but require specific action plans, with appropriate resources, effective implementation and monitoring mechanisms, and the participation of the whole society. The ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and strategies should also be integrated into national development plans to ensure coherence and consistency.

Countries affirmed that ASEAN is a bright spot of global growth, with cooperation within the bloc and with partners constantly expanding, its central role, position and prestige increasingly consolidated - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

ASEAN leaders agreed to admit Timor-Leste as the 11th member of ASEAN at the 47th ASEAN Summit in October 2025 and assigned ministers and senior officials to negotiate Timor-Leste's accession document.

Speaking at the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his gratitude for the deep sentiments and condolences of leaders of countries upon the passing of former President Tran Duc Luong.

Supporting the main spirit of this year's Conference, "Inclusiveness and Sustainability", the Prime Minister expressed his belief that with the responsibility of ASEAN Chair, Malaysia will "steer" ASEAN to overcome difficulties and challenges, and highly appreciated ASEAN's leading role in coordinating timely joint actions. In recent times, the world has witnessed new unpredictable changes and increasing uncertainty, leading to trends of political polarization, economic separation, institutional fragmentation, and development differentiation.

The 46th ASEAN Summit and related summits opened on the morning of May 26 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Such a challenging context requires ASEAN to strongly promote "5 more": More solidarity to create collective strength, More self-reliance to hold its own destiny, More proactive to shape the game, More inclusive so that ASEAN is always a common home for all members and More sustainable for the future of future generations. The Prime Minister highly agreed to approve the package of documents "ASEAN 2045: Our common future". In the coming time, the Prime Minister proposed three focuses of ASEAN cooperation.

Firstly, ASEAN reshapes its development thinking towards inclusiveness as the foundation, innovation as the driving force and sustainability as the destination. The Prime Minister asked the relevant agencies to research and make "sustainability" one of the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of implementing the 2045 cooperation strategies, based on three pillars: green economy, inclusive society and smart governance. The Prime Minister also suggested increasing the mobilization of resources from both the public and private sectors to promote digital transformation, science and technology and innovation, develop regional initiatives, and inspire ASEAN partners to participate.

Second, ASEAN needs to continue to promote its role as a connector and expand its connections beyond the region, diversifying products, markets and supply chains. The Prime Minister welcomed the replication of the ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and the ASEAN-GCC-China Economic Summit with other potential partners such as the Southern Common Market and the Pacific Alliance. The Prime Minister also suggested that ASEAN must promote a strong collective voice, support the principles of free, fair and inclusive trade and uphold multilateralism; expressing his belief that Timor-Leste's early official membership in ASEAN will contribute significantly to enhancing self-reliance, deepening the inclusiveness and sustainability of the Association.

Third, ASEAN maintains its centrality and enhances regional resilience. The Prime Minister emphasized that ASEAN's success will depend on its ability to ensure an independent and autonomous strategic space in implementing regional policies. ASEAN needs to reaffirm its centrality not only in name but also through action, maintain strategic autonomy, promote intra-bloc consensus and enhance its capacity to proactively adapt to external changes. In the face of the increase in transnational crimes, the Prime Minister announced Vietnam's proposal and hoped that countries would support the development of an ASEAN Declaration on enhancing the effectiveness of cooperation in pursuing wanted criminals.

The Prime Minister believes that with the same belief and vision, ASEAN will overcome all changes and move forward strongly. Vietnam pledges to continue being a responsible, active and proactive member, ready to join ASEAN in building a Community that is "more united, more resilient, more proactive, more inclusive and more sustainable" for today and tomorrow.

Ha Van

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/thu-tuong-pham-minh-chinh-asean-phat-huy-manh-me-5-hon-voi-ba-trong-tam-hop-tac-102250526135554088.htm