WNAM REPORT: Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh put forward three priorities for regional cooperation while delivering a speech at the Plenary Session of the 46th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 26 morning.
Hosted by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the 2025 ASEAN Chair, the session saw the participation of senior leaders of ASEAN member states, Prime Minister of Timor-Leste Xanana Gusmao, and the ASEAN Secretary-General.
Delegates expressed deep condolences over the passing of former Vietnamese State President Tran Duc Luong, and highly evaluated his significant contributions to the “Doi moi” (renewal) process, development, and regional and international integration of Vietnam.
The ASEAN leaders showed their support for the timely cooperation theme “’Inclusivity and Sustainability” of the summit, which reflects ASEAN’s urgent requirement to promote equitable development, resilience, solidarity, and effective joint response to common challenges such as climate change, energy security, transnational crime, and natural disasters.
They affirmed that ASEAN remains a bright spot in global growth, with a 4.8% growth rate in 2024 and projected 4.7% growth in 2025. Intra-bloc cooperation and partnerships with external partners have continued to expand, while the bloc’s central role, position and credibility are being increasingly reinforced.
They agreed that to sustain its achievements amid global uncertainties, ASEAN must leverage its internal strengths, uphold a rule-based multilateral trading system, effectively tap existing trade agreements, expand regional integration and connectivity, and take the lead in shaping the region’s future through frameworks and initiatives such as the ASEAN Power Grid and the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement.
In that spirit, the ASEAN leaders adopted the document “ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future”, which encompasses the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and strategic plans across the political-security, economic, socio-cultural, and connectivity pillars, laying a strategic foundation for regional cooperation and integration in the decades to come.
All member states have agreed that the implementation of their 2045 strategies must go beyond political declarations, requiring concrete action plans, appropriate resourcing, effective implementation and oversight mechanisms, and the engagement of the entire society. They emphasised that the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, along with the strategies, should be fully integrated into countries’ development plans to ensure consistency and alignment.
ASEAN leaders agreed to admit Timor-Leste as ASEAN’s 11th member during the 47th ASEAN Summit scheduled for October 2025. Relevant ministers and senior officials were tasked with negotiating accession documents for Timor-Leste.
Call for stronger, more resilient ASEAN
Speaking at the session, PM Chinh noted his support for this year’s theme of “Inclusivity and Sustainability” and his confidence that Malaysia, as ASEAN Chair, will steer the grouping through difficulties and challenges, praising the country’s role in providing the association’s timely and coordinated response.
He said the world is undergoing unprecedented and unpredictable shifts, marked by growing political polarisation, economic fragmentation, institutional disunity, and developmental divides.
In this context, the leader stressed the need for ASEAN to fully embrace the “five enhancements” – greater unity to build collective strength; greater resilience to take charge of its own destiny; greater proactiveness to shape the agenda; greater inclusiveness to remain a shared home for all member states; and greater sustainability to secure the future for generations to come.
PM Chinh expressed strong support for the “ASEAN Vision 2045: Our Shared Future”, and outlined three key priorities for cooperation in the coming period.
First, ASEAN must redefine its development mindset, with inclusiveness as the foundation, innovation as the driving force, and sustainability as the goal. He proposed that relevant ASEAN bodies consider “sustainability” as a core metric when evaluating the effectiveness of 2045 cooperation strategies. This, he suggested, should be measured against three pillars – green economy, inclusive society, and smart governance.
PM Chinh called for intensifying the mobilisation of resources from both the public and private sectors to advance digital transformation, science-technology, and innovation as well as to develop region-wide initiatives capable of inspiring broader participation from ASEAN’s external partners.
Second, he emphasised the need for ASEAN to strengthen its connectivity role, expand linkages beyond the region, and diversify products, markets, and supply chains. The Vietnamese leader welcomed the multiplying of such formats as the ASEAN–Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and the ASEAN–GCC–China Economic Summit to other promising partners, including the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and the Pacific Alliance.
He recommended ASEAN to have a strong collective voice in support of free, fair, and inclusive trade principles, and uphold multilateralism. The PM expressed confidence that the accession of Timor-Leste as a full ASEAN member would contribute significantly to the bloc’s resilience, inclusivity, and sustainability.
Third, ASEAN must maintain its centrality and strengthen regional resilience, PM Chinh said, adding that the success of the bloc depends on its ability to preserve independent strategic space and autonomy in policy implementation.
He stressed that ASEAN’s centrality must be asserted not just in name, but through action – by safeguarding its strategic autonomy, promoting intra-bloc consensus, and enhancing its capacity to proactively adapt to external shocks.
In light of growing transnational criminal threats, PM Chinh announced Vietnam’s proposal to draft an ASEAN declaration aimed at enhancing cooperation in the apprehension of wanted criminals. He also expressed his hope for the support of other member states regarding the initiative.
The Government leader voiced confidence that with shared belief and vision, ASEAN will overcome every challenge and strongly advance forward. Vietnam is committed to remaining a responsible, proactive, and constructive member of the bloc, ready to join ASEAN in building a community that is more united, resilient, proactive, inclusive, and sustainable, both for today and for the future, he stated./
