Bắc giang
Vietnam contributes to building a united, inclusive and resilient ASEAN Community
Vietnam has consistently been an active, proactive, and responsible member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), leaving significant marks on the association's development.
These important milestones provide an opportunity for Vietnam to review its journey and further contribute to shaping ASEAN's developmental path in the coming years.
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At the press conference on ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) 2025 held in Hanoi on February 13. |
Since joining ASEAN, Vietnam has initiated and made substantial contributions to uphold the association's fundamental goals and principles, reinforcing ASEAN's central role in promoting peace, cooperation, and development in the region.
The year 2025 is seen as a pivotal moment for ASEAN to prepare for a new phase. Internal solidarity and self-reliance are identified as two crucial factors for the association's central role and the outcomes of building the ASEAN Community.
During its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2010, Vietnam proposed initiatives such as expanding membership in the East Asia Summit (EAS) and hosting the first ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM+).
As ASEAN Chair in 2020, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam led efforts to establish a new operational method through online meetings to adapt to emerging challenges.
The global situation continues to witness complicated and unpredictable developments, with increasing strategic competition among major powers, ongoing security instability in various hotspots, and escalating non-traditional security challenges.
This context necessitates a thorough assessment of future opportunities and challenges to ensure ASEAN's central role in regional issues.
In light of the situation, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh announced the initiative to organise the ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) during the 43rd ASEAN Summit held in Jakarta, Indonesia, in September 2023.
The first ASEAN Future Forum took place in Hanoi on April 23, 2024, receiving strong support and positive appreciation from ASEAN member states and partners.
The success of AFF 2024 set a firm foundation for Vietnam to continue hosting this forum. This year’s event serves as an occasion for Vietnam to review its achievements and discuss its future participation in ASEAN.
Accordingly, the AFF 2025 will be held under the theme ‘Building a United, Inclusive, and Resilient ASEAN Amidst Global Transformations’.
The term “inclusive” aligns with the theme for Malaysia's ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025, "Inclusivity and Sustainability”, while the phrase “global transformations” encapsulates the current global situation.
This theme underscores the importance of building a united, inclusive, and self-reliant ASEAN Community while affirming the association's stature.
The forum will provide an opportunity for leaders and representatives from ASEAN member states and partners, regional and international organisations, experts, scholars, and businesses to exchange ideas and promote cooperation while discussing solutions to common regional and global issues.
AFF 2025 will focus on key topics such as major trends affecting ASEAN and the world, reinforcing ASEAN fundamental principles to address future challenges, sub-regional cooperation to enhance self-reliance and sustainable development, governance of emerging technologies and ASEAN's role in promoting peace in a fragmented world.
At an international press conference regarding AFF 2025, Trinh Minh Manh, Acting Director-General of the Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, expressed hope that the forum would serve as a source of ideas and initiatives for ASEAN by supplementing the Association's exchanges at official channels, thus contributing to the building of the ASEAN Community.
He emphasised that AFF 2025 reflects Vietnam's maturity within ASEAN and highlights the country’s increasingly positive contributions through specific initiatives.
Hosting AFF 2025 strongly conveys Vietnam's active participation alongside member countries to reinforce ASEAN's central role and amplify its voice regarding peace, stability, and development. This also helps safeguard national interests while enhancing Vietnam's position regionally and internationally.
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