Vietnam - ASEAN: A 30-year Journey of Shared Progress
As Vietnam deepens its regional and global integration, beginning with ASEAN, it has remained a proactive, responsible, and constructive member, committed to building a strong, united, and influential ASEAN that occupies a central role both in the region and on the global stage. Over the past three decades, ASEAN cooperation has played a vital role in Vietnam’s comprehensive development.
Vietnam officially joined ASEAN on July 28, 1995. In the years since, the country has transformed from a wartorn, isolated, and embargoed nation into an active and respected player in international affairs. Today, Vietnam maintains diplomatic relations with 194 countries and is a member of more than 70 regional and international organizations and forums.
Of Vietnam’s 34 comprehensive strategic, strategic, and comprehensive partnership agreements, all ASEAN members and the bloc’s key dialogue partners are represented. Additionally, a network of free trade agreements (FTAs) with over 60 countries has helped position Vietnam among the world’s 40 largest economies and among the top 20 destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade.
A peaceful and stable environment has enabled Vietnam to focus on national development, resulting in significant progress, particularly in the economic sector. GDP per capita has increased from just 289 US dollars in 1995 to 4,700 US dollars in 2024. The economy has grown more than twentyfold, expanding from 20.8 billion US dollars to 476 billion US dollars, while the FDI surged from 10 billion to nearly 40 billion US dollars. Trade between Vietnam and ASEAN has grown 18-fold since 1995. Vietnam’s participation in ASEAN-led FTAs with major global partners has further strengthened its role as a critical link in regional and global economic connectivity.
Vietnam has also played a pivotal role in ASEAN’s expansion, actively supporting the admission of Laos and Myanmar in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999, helping to realize the vision of a unified ten-member ASEAN family. The country has repeatedly taken on leadership roles within the bloc, hosting major events and high-level meetings. Just three years after joining, Vietnam hosted the 6th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi in 1998, and it assumed the ASEAN Chairmanship in both 2010 and 2020, delivering meaningful outcomes that reinforced the bloc’s unity and resilience.
At the 30th anniversary celebration of Vietnam’s accession to ASEAN, held in Indonesia in March 2025, Party General Secretary To Lam emphasized that to sustain and build upon its achievements, ASEAN must not only uphold solidarity and consensus but also adopt bold, forward-thinking approaches that leverage the bloc’s strategic values and enhance its credibility and global standing.
Vietnam has actively contributed to shaping ASEAN’s major policy frameworks and strategic documents, including the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ), ASEAN Vision 2020, the ASEAN Charter, and the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community. Vietnam has also worked to advance a unified ASEAN stance on the East Sea, promote implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and push forward negotiations with China on an effective and substantive Code of Conduct (COC).
From the outset of its reform and integration journey, Vietnam has consistently regarded ASEAN as its most important and directly connected multilateral framework. Guided by foreign policy priorities for a new era, Vietnam remains steadfast in its commitment to contributing wholeheartedly to ASEAN’s continued progress and shared future./.
Story: VNP Photos: VNA Translated by Nguyen Tuoi