Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang called for a deeper partnership between the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Southeast Asia during the 2025 OECD Southeast Asia Regional Forum in Bangkok, Thailand on May 2.
Speaking as Co-Chair of the OECD’s Southeast Asia Regional Programme (SEARP) for 2022–2025, Hang stressed the need for collaboration amid global uncertainties, with SEARP playing a key role in supporting economic reform, regional integration, inclusive and sustainable development.
She outlined three proposals for future cooperation, including bolstering support for regional countries' economic reform and new growth engines like digital transformation, green transition, innovation, and sci-tech; elevating Southeast Asia’s role in shaping a global governance system that is fair, transparent, efficient, and future-ready; and fostering mutual engagement to bring Southeast Asia closer to the OECD and vice versa in order to reinforce mutual trust and understanding.
Delegates engaged in vibrant discussions on ways to deepen the bilateral partnership, with a key focus on amplifying the region’s voice in OECD policy-making and agenda-setting.
Within the framework of the forum, Hang held bilateral meetings with OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, Australia's First Assistant Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade Robyn Mudie, and Ambassador Jun Shimmi, Japan's Permanent Representative to the OECD.
The foreign officials hailed Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements and development strategy and congratulated the country on excellently fulfilling its role as Co-Chair of the SEARP during a period when the global and regional economies faced numerous challenges. Vietnam successfully advanced the programme's three priorities, namely supporting Southeast Asian countries in post-COVID-19 economic recovery, promoting policy and legal reforms, and bringing regional countries closer to the OECD.
Hang expressed gratitude for the valuable support and partnership from the OECD Secretariat, Australia, Japan, and other OECD member countries. She affirmed Vietnam's commitment to making further contributions to the programme and the partnership between the OECD and Southeast Asia, as well as further elevating the Vietnam – OECD relations.
On this occasion, she requested the OECD Secretariat and other member countries to continue support for Vietnam in its new strategic development phase, particularly in improving institutions and policy and investment climate to attract high-quality investment, promoting innovation and science-technology, and developing the private economic sector.
Earlier, consultations on the OECD Economic Surveys Vietnam 2025 were held at the OECD headquarters in Paris from April 29 to May 1, during which Hang shared Vietnam's development directions and priorities for the coming period. She stressed that the survey should outline an appropriate roadmap aligned with Vietnam's development conditions and fully reflect its strategic directions.
OECD member countries appreciated Vietnam's socio-economic development achievements, its development potential and investment attraction prospects, while offering substantive recommendations closely aligned with Vietnam's development realities amidst profound global economic transformation.
The economic survey is periodically developed by the OECD for member countries and important partners. The 2025 edition aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of all aspects of Vietnam's economy and offer specific recommendations on promoting macro-economic foundations for growth, inclusive development, unlocking low-carbon economic growth, and leveraging trade and investment flows to boost productivity. The report is highly regarded by many countries and considered a valuable reference for guiding and developing socio-economic policies./.
