Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and ASEAN leaders hold dialogue with youth and businesses: Joining hands to foster an inclusive and sustainable ASEAN Community

On the afternoon of May 26, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended and spoke at the ASEAN Leaders' Dialogue with representatives of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and leaders of ASEAN countries attended the Dialogue with representatives of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA). (Source: VNA)

Within the framework of the 46th ASEAN Summit and related Summits, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and ASEAN leaders attended the Dialogue with representatives of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA). Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Vu Hong Thanh represented the Vietnamese National Assembly at the Dialogue.

AIPA member parliaments highly appreciated the theme of “Inclusiveness and Sustainability” of ASEAN cooperation in 2025, reflecting the efforts to bring benefits to all, leaving no one behind. AIPA welcomed and affirmed its strong commitment to accompany the implementation of the document “ASEAN 2045: Our Common Future”.

With the theme “Parliament on the Frontline for an Inclusive and Sustainable ASEAN Growth”, delegates emphasized that inter-parliamentary cooperation plays an important role in promoting regional integration and connectivity, facilitating the participation and contribution of women and youth, affirming the complementarity between sub-regional development and the ASEAN Community building process. AIPA member parliaments expressed their support for an open, inclusive and rules-based multilateral trading system, building a common regional approach, enhancing cooperation, trade, investment, promoting innovation, and digital transformation for a competitive and future-ready ASEAN.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the Dialogue with representatives of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA). (Source: VNA)

AIPA stressed the importance of solidarity and the central role of ASEAN, calling for the full implementation of the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar, upholding international law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and maintaining the East Sea as a sea of ​​peace, stability and cooperation. AIPA Parliaments also proposed to enhance coordination to effectively respond to non-traditional security challenges, such as climate change, food security, energy security, water security, and transnational crimes.

Speaking at the dialogue session, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that in today's volatile world, ASEAN can only maintain its central role, strengthen solidarity and promote self-reliance when all levels of national institutions - from the executive to the legislative - are united in acting for the common interests of the region.

Expressing his agreement with the theme of AIPA this year, the Prime Minister suggested that AIPA promote its “frontline” role in perfecting the legal and institutional framework to implement the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, building institutions and policies to promote the role of “Innovation and Technology” and in promoting its role as a bridge to the people; suggested that AIPA should further promote its role and contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the region, through measures and actions that uphold international law, the United Nations Charter, the ASEAN Charter, and take advantage of dialogue mechanisms with partner parliaments to strengthen mutual understanding and trust.

Affirming that “Inclusiveness and sustainability” is not only the choice of today’s generation but also demonstrates responsibility to future generations, the Prime Minister shared that Vietnam is ready to accompany AIPA to build a strong and prosperous ASEAN in which development leaves no one behind and cooperation has no limits.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and ASEAN leaders hold dialogue with youth, parliament and businesses: Joining hands to foster an inclusive and sustainable ASEAN Community

After the dialogue session with the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), the Prime Minister attended dialogue sessions with ASEAN Youth and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

With the theme “Youth for a Sustainable Future: Promoting Inclusion and Driving Change in ASEAN”, ASEAN youth delegates made a number of policy recommendations to ASEAN Leaders, demonstrating the aspirations and responsibilities of the young generation in shaping the future of the region. The recommendations included increasing access to digital skills and artificial intelligence education, improving youth physical and mental health, supporting vulnerable groups, encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation, promoting climate action and ASEAN cultural diversity.

The youth representatives also called on member states to invest in inclusive infrastructure, strengthen public-private partnerships to implement training programs on sustainable development goals, as well as create mechanisms for youth to participate meaningfully in sustainable development processes, from rural to urban areas. Cultural exchange programs and preservation of traditional knowledge should also be promoted as a bridge to enhance understanding, solidarity and common ASEAN identity.

Listening to the sharing of ASEAN youth representatives, the Prime Minister emphasized that youth are both beneficiaries and creators, leading ASEAN in the future. Sharing the message "Act today - Create tomorrow", the Prime Minister called on ASEAN youth to promote the spirit of initiative and creativity with "five proactive measures", including proactive learning, proactive innovation and entrepreneurship, proactive participation in institution building, proactive international exchange and integration, and proactive participation in maintaining peace, stability and ASEAN cultural identity. Along with that, the Prime Minister proposed that ASEAN countries focus on five key areas: building open education, supporting the development of science and technology and digital transformation, promoting entrepreneurship, creating a dialogue space to listen to the voices of youth and encouraging youth to participate in environmental protection and sustainable development.

Speaking at the dialogue, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the future of ASEAN will be written by the young generation. (Source: VNA)

The Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam is committed to accompanying ASEAN, prioritizing the comprehensive development of youth as a strategic resource. The Prime Minister expressed his belief that ASEAN's bright future will be written by a young generation who dare to think, dare to do, dare to pioneer for a cohesive and sustainable ASEAN.

Under the theme “Unifying Markets for Shared Prosperity”, delegates from the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) proposed priority focuses including: enhancing intra-bloc trade and investment, enhancing economic integration, building an inclusive and sustainable future, and building a digitally resilient ASEAN.

Emphasizing the need for deep economic integration, sustainable development and comprehensive digital transformation, ASEAN-BAC proposed many specific initiatives such as building an ASEAN Business Entity to facilitate cross-border business operations, early establishment of an ASEAN Private Capital Market, a Common Carbon Market Framework, developing a strategy to promote the mobility of young talents, and building a digital platform to simplify procedures, reduce transaction time and costs, opening up the expectation of increasing ASEAN GDP by 5.5 billion USD thanks to trade digitalization.

The three dialogue sessions are vivid evidence of ASEAN's determination to build an inclusive and people-centered development community.

Welcoming and appreciating the highly feasible proposals of ASEAN-BAC, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his hope that these initiatives will contribute to the realization of an “Inclusive and Sustainable” ASEAN. Looking back on the 10-year journey of building the ASEAN Community, the Prime Minister emphasized that the business community is the pioneering driving force for innovation, promoting growth and enhancing regional economic connectivity. The Prime Minister expects ASEAN-BAC to continue to be a strong voice of the private sector to promote the improvement of the regional business environment, enhance supply chain connectivity, digital transformation, green transformation, contributing to the realization of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and ASEAN leaders hold dialogue with youth, parliament and businesses: Joining hands to foster an inclusive and sustainable ASEAN Community

To promote extensive economic cooperation in the coming time, the Prime Minister suggested that governments and the business community renew traditional growth drivers, both in intra-bloc trade and investment and with external partners, strongly promote new growth drivers, especially in science and technology, innovation and digital transformation, strengthen regional and global supply chain connectivity, ensure ASEAN's strategic economic autonomy, develop high-quality human resources, and meet the requirements of the labor market in the new era on the basis of strengthening cooperation between the three "states, businesses and schools".

The Prime Minister affirmed that enterprises are the heart of ASEAN growth and committed the Vietnamese Government to creating “open institutions, smooth infrastructure, and smart governance” to work with the governments and businesses of member countries to turn ASEAN into a dynamic, self-reliant, inclusive, and sustainable economic entity, ready to adapt to all global fluctuations.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/thu-tuong-pham-minh-chinh-cung-lang-dao-asean-doi-thoai-voi-thanh-nien-va-doanh-nghiep-chung-tay-vun-dap-cong-dong-asean-bao-trum-va-ben-vung-315653.html