Affirming Vietnam’s Position and Role in ASEAN
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s attendance and substantial contributions to the 47th ASEAN Summit and related summits strongly reaffirmed the strategic importance of ASEAN in Vietnam’s foreign policy. This active participation conveyed a powerful message of a proactive, creative, and responsible Vietnam and Vietnam’s commitment to building a united, resilient, inclusive, and sustainable ASEAN Community.
The 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits stood as the region’s premier diplomatic event, hosting nearly 30 heads of state and governments from ASEAN and its key partners, including the US, China, Japan, the EU, and the United Nations. The event was marked by high-level discourse on critical regional and global challenges, resulting in nearly 70 agreements aimed at advancing the ASEAN Community Vision 2045. Significant outcomes included the official admission of Timor-Leste as ASEAN’s 11th member and a joint statement signed by Thailand and Cambodia to resolve their longstanding border dispute.
In just three days, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh executed a packed schedule of nearly 50 activities, steering the discussions toward core Vietnamese principles. Addressing the plenary session, the Prime Minister emphasized that inclusiveness and sustainability are ASEAN’s strategic imperatives. He urged the bloc to harness three strategic resources for future growth: the strength of solidarity, the vitality of dynamism, and the momentum of innovation.
In just three days, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh executed a packed schedule of nearly 50 activities, steering the discussions toward core Vietnamese principles. Addressing the plenary session, the Prime Minister emphasized that inclusiveness and sustainability are ASEAN’s strategic imperatives. He urged the bloc to harness three strategic resources for future growth: the strength of solidarity, the vitality of dynamism, and the momentum of innovation.
At all related summits, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh offered proactive policy proposals to enhance cooperation with major partners. At the ASEAN-US Summit, he outlined four cooperation directions, focusing on accelerating economic connectivity, boosting digital transformation and energy security, enhancing cybersecurity, and strengthening regional peace. During the ASEAN-China Summit, guided by the spirit that solidarity brings strength and cooperation yields mutual benefits, the prime minister articulated three strategic pillars: enhancing smart, inclusive, and sustainable connectivity; strengthening innovation for breakthrough growth; and consolidating strategic trust to build the East Sea into a sea of peace, stability, cooperation, and development.
Beyond the plenary sessions, the prime minister effectively leveraged his bilateral meetings with nearly 30 delegation heads, including US President Donald Trump, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, and newly elected Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi - to advance specific national interests and secure new cooperative opportunities.
During his meeting with the US President, the Prime Minister strongly requested the recognition of Vietnam as a market economy and the removal of Vietnam from the D1 and D3 strategic export control lists. A major highlight of the summit was the issuance of a Joint Statement on a Framework for a Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the US. In discussions with the Chinese Premier, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed accelerating cooperation on railway development between the two countries.
The Prime Minister also addressed key economic issues with the European Union, requesting the early consideration of lifting the IUU "Yellow Card" for Vietnamese seafood and pushing remaining EU member states to ratify the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). With leaders from South Korea, Singapore and Indonesia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh urged the urgent implementation of agreements reached during Party General Secretary To Lam’s recent visits to those countries. Vietnam and Singapore used the occasion to announce an action program to implement their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
With the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, the Prime Minister proposed accelerating discussions and negotiations to soon sign agreements for the construction of the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant.
The Prime Minister’s initiatives were widely praised by his peers. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, acknowledging Vietnam's impressive economic growth and active participation, hailed Vietnam as an "extremely important member" of ASEAN.
According to Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung, all partners universally appreciated Vietnam's socio-economic achievements and its increasing international standing, particularly its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, and cooperation. By promoting the building of a united and self-reliant ASEAN Community, Vietnam successfully leveraged regional ties to secure deeper, more substantive cooperation for the country's long-term peace, stability, and sustainable development./.
By VNA Translated by Hong Hanh