Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed three focuses of ASEAN cooperation in challenging context

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.

Overview of the meeting. (Source: VGP)

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

At the meeting, senior leaders of the countries expressed their condolences and deep regret at 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 development, self-reliance, solidarity and effectively respond to common challenges such as climate change, energy security, transnational crime and natural disasters.

Countries affirmed that ASEAN is a bright spot in global growth with an increase 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.

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.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh leads a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to attend the Plenary Session of the 46th ASEAN Summit. (Source: VGP)

In that spirit, ASEAN Leaders agreed to adopt the document “ASEAN 2045: Our Common Future”, including the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and the Political-Security, Economic, Cultural-Social and Connectivity Strategies, 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.

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

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the meeting. (Source: VGP)

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

Supporting the main spirit of this year's Conference, which is "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.

That 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 ASEAN 2045: Our Common Future document package. 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 Strategy, based on three pillars: green economy, inclusive society and smart governance.

The Prime Minister proposed to increase the mobilization of resources from both the public and private sectors to promote digital transformation, science, technology and innovation, develop regional initiatives, and inspire ASEAN partners to participate.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and leaders of ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste attend the plenary session of the 46th ASEAN Summit. (Source: VGP)

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 suggested that ASEAN should promote a strong collective voice, support the principles of free, fair and inclusive trade and promote multilateralism, expressing his belief that Timor-Leste's early official membership in ASEAN will contribute significantly to enhancing self-reliance and deepening the inclusiveness and sustainability of the Association.

Third, ASEAN must maintain its centrality and enhance its regional resilience. The Prime Minister stressed 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, maintaining strategic autonomy, promoting intra-bloc consensus and enhancing its capacity to proactively adapt to external changes.

Faced with 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 capturing 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 to be a responsible, active and proactive member, ready to join ASEAN in building a Community that is “more united, more self-reliant, more proactive, more inclusive and more sustainable” for today and tomorrow.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/thu-tuong-pham-minh-chinh-de-xuat-ba-trong-tam-hop-tac-cua-asean-trong-boi-canh-day-thach-thuc-315573.html