ASEAN must vigorously renew its “value mindset” to transform strategic assets into adaptive and action-oriented capabilities
On June 9, at the Presidential Palace, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam received heads of delegations attending the 3rd ASEAN Future Forum. The People’s Deputies Newspaper respectfully introduces the full text of his speech at the meeting.
Distinguished delegates,
On behalf of the leaders of the Party and the State of Viet Nam, I warmly welcome you to Hanoi to attend the 3rd ASEAN Future Forum. I am delighted that this year’s Forum brings together Prime Ministers of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Timor-Leste, leaders and representatives of ASEAN member states and dialogue partners, as well as many international and regional organisations, scholars and research institutions. This demonstrates our shared interest in the future of the region and our common desire to exchange views on the issues facing ASEAN in its new stage of development.
I greatly appreciate and share many of the profound views expressed by you. ASEAN has entered the first year of implementing the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, with new expectations and, together with them, higher demands for greater proactiveness, effectiveness and substance. This spirit was also what I conveyed at the recent Shangri-La Dialogue.
For ASEAN, this spirit originates from solidarity, dialogue, trust and cooperation. These are also the foundations on which we launched the ASEAN Future Forum initiative, with the aspiration to create an additional channel for open and substantive exchanges, complementing ASEAN’s existing cooperation processes, so that we can share perspectives, connect ideas and seek more practical avenues of cooperation for the future of the region.
On this occasion, I would like to share with you several issues:
1. The world is changing; the region must think differently
The world is entering a period of profound transformation. The three major crises we are witnessing — in the international order, development models and strategic trust — are not occurring somewhere far away, but are clearly unfolding right here in our region.
Strategic competition among major powers is becoming more intense and expanding into fundamental areas shaping the future, including technology, data, supply chains and new governance standards. Artificial intelligence, big data and quantum technologies are opening up tremendous development opportunities while also creating new risks. Meanwhile, challenges related to climate change, energy, water resources, population ageing, misinformation, information manipulation and human security are increasingly having direct impacts on social stability and the development capacity of each country.
Traditional development advantages no longer generate the same momentum as before. Many familiar approaches can no longer meet new requirements. Population size, resources and capital remain important, but competitive advantages increasingly depend on the ability to innovate, adapt and prepare for emerging development trends.
This is a particularly pressing requirement for ASEAN. Southeast Asia is where many major global shifts intersect. The region has opportunities to attract more resources, benefit from supply chain relocation, develop the digital economy, pursue green transformation and advance new technology sectors. However, opportunities do not automatically become advantages. Opportunities can only become advantages when the region has sufficient capacity to seize them, strong determination to innovate and the resilience to maintain a stable environment for development.
Distinguished delegates,
2. ASEAN must preserve its strategic assets while renewing its modes of operation
With the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, ASEAN has clearly defined its direction for the coming decades; however, this is only the starting point. In my view, ASEAN’s success depends on doing two things simultaneously.
On the one hand, ASEAN must continue preserving and promoting the strategic assets accumulated over decades: solidarity; ASEAN centrality; the principle of consensus; and unity in diversity.
On the other hand, ASEAN must vigorously renew its “value mindset” so that these assets can be transformed into adaptive capacity, action capacity and implementation capacity.
ASEAN’s strategic assets are the result of a long process of building trust, maintaining dialogue, consultation, addressing differences and seeking consensus among member states. In the new period, ASEAN centrality can only be meaningful if ASEAN maintains solidarity, strategic autonomy, an inclusive approach and the ability to coordinate and shape the region’s common agenda.
ASEAN’s potential is enormous, but turning that potential into real strength requires further efforts. Intra-regional connectivity needs to be deepened; infrastructure, logistics, digital and energy connectivity need to become more integrated; development and technological gaps need to be narrowed; and the implementation of commitments, agreements and coordination in responding to common challenges must be further enhanced.
The world is changing rapidly, and the challenges facing ASEAN are very different from before. The “value mindset” must be further renewed through more flexible and effective ways of operation to better respond to new demands.
First, ASEAN needs to shift from a process-oriented mindset to a results-oriented mindset, bringing commitments from documents into reality.
Second, ASEAN needs to move from consultation as the primary approach toward more substantive coordination, enabling cooperation mechanisms to respond more quickly to cross-sectoral and interconnected issues.
Third, ASEAN needs to move from consensus in awareness to consensus in action, ensuring that common voices are translated into concrete programmes, concrete resources and concrete results.
In other words, I believe that in the coming period, the measure of ASEAN’s success will not only be how many documents, mechanisms or action plans it creates, but more importantly, how effectively ASEAN commitments are implemented, what changes they bring to the region, and what benefits they deliver to people, businesses and each member economy.
In today’s increasingly intense competition, moving slowly may mean losing opportunities. Therefore, ASEAN needs to further promote its spirit of proactiveness: strategic proactiveness to identify trends early and define priorities; adaptive proactiveness to seize emerging opportunities and effectively respond to new challenges; and constructive proactiveness to contribute positively to shaping regional norms and cooperation frameworks.
Distinguished delegates,
3. The ASEAN Future Forum contributes to ASEAN cooperation processes
Based on discussions at this Forum, I believe the ASEAN Future Forum can continue strengthening its role as an open, candid and substantive platform for discussing long-term issues affecting the region.
As a complementary channel for dialogue, the value of the Forum lies in providing additional perspectives, policy inputs and ideas to support ASEAN cooperation processes.
In this regard, the ASEAN Future Forum could pay greater attention to several areas:
First, discussions at the Forum can help identify emerging issues and long-term trends that directly affect the future of the region. Many issues today do not emerge separately but are intertwined: technological transformation linked with employment and governance; green transformation linked with energy, food security and livelihoods; and the information space linked with social trust and governance capacity. If ASEAN can identify these issues earlier, it will be better prepared.
Second, the Forum can help strengthen connections among policymakers, scholars, research institutions and businesses. Current regional issues are increasingly complex, cross-sectoral and beyond traditional approaches. Therefore, ASEAN processes need more perspectives, experiences and initiatives from diverse channels to complement policymaking and implementation.
Third, the Forum can focus more on generating practical and applicable ideas. If effectively distilled, discussions at the ASEAN Future Forum can provide additional perspectives, suggest cooperation directions or offer recommendations for relevant ASEAN processes. These include practical solutions such as conflict prevention, artificial intelligence development, energy cooperation, youth engagement and cooperation in the Mekong sub-region.
With this spirit, we hope to continue receiving the attention, support and active participation of member states, partners, scholars, research institutions and businesses. Your engagement, sharing and partnership will help the ASEAN Future Forum become an increasingly useful and practical platform, contributing to ASEAN processes while nurturing the spirit of dialogue, cooperation and joint action for the region’s common future.
Distinguished delegates,
4. Viet Nam’s contribution
Since joining ASEAN in 1995, Viet Nam has consistently regarded ASEAN as a central pillar of its foreign policy of multilateralisation and diversification.
Active and responsible participation in the ASEAN Community has made important contributions to helping Viet Nam maintain peace and independence, promote deeper economic integration for national development and enhance its international standing.
Viet Nam has always aspired and worked together with ASEAN members to build a united, resilient and sustainable community while maintaining ASEAN’s central role in the regional security architecture.
For Viet Nam itself, major global shifts also require stronger renewal of its development thinking, growth model and governance capacity. The challenges facing ASEAN are also challenges facing Viet Nam: how to maintain peace and stability, ensure major macroeconomic balances for rapid and sustainable development, while making breakthroughs to enhance competitiveness.
At the same time, strategic solutions are needed to narrow development gaps, proactively adapt and strengthen resilience against both internal and external shocks.
The common spirit today is to act more decisively, implement faster and use practical effectiveness as the measure. Having the right direction is important, but in the current context, being on the right path yet moving slowly may still mean missing opportunities.
Therefore, Viet Nam is focusing on removing bottlenecks, unlocking resources, promoting strategic infrastructure and digital infrastructure, developing high-quality human resources and creating a more favourable environment for people, businesses and localities.
For Viet Nam, development is not merely an economic goal, but also a foundation for strengthening social stability and improving people’s lives. This is also aligned with the requirements facing ASEAN in the new era.
Alongside socio-economic development, Viet Nam is pursuing foreign relations in a more substantive and effective manner, closely linked with national strategic objectives while making greater contributions to peace, cooperation and sustainable development in the region.
We consistently pursue a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development; multilateralisation and diversification of external relations; and responsible participation in the international community.
Viet Nam attaches importance to relations with neighbouring countries, ASEAN, key partners and traditional friends; promotes deeper, more stable, trustworthy and sustainable cooperation frameworks; and actively contributes to addressing common regional and global challenges.
ASEAN has always been a strategic priority in Viet Nam’s foreign policy. We are committed to making every effort, together with ASEAN members, to preserve solidarity, strengthen ASEAN centrality in substance, and uphold rules, dialogue and cooperation.
With this spirit, Viet Nam wishes to make greater contributions to practical areas of ASEAN cooperation and ASEAN’s cooperation with partners in the coming period, particularly in strategic connectivity, green transformation, digital transformation, human resource development and strengthening capacity to respond to common challenges.
These are all areas directly linked to the development of each country, the lives of people and the collective resilience of the region.
We understand that contributing to ASEAN must first begin with doing our own work better, while being more proactive and responsible in common affairs.
With that spirit, Viet Nam hopes that its process of renewal and development will bring about “a Viet Nam” that is more dynamic, proactive and effective in participation; one that makes more practical contributions and works with ASEAN countries to build a Community that is more united, resilient and people-centred.
After nearly six decades, ASEAN has established a solid foundation of cooperation and an extensive network of partnerships. Our mission is to transform these valuable foundations into stronger and more effective capabilities for action.
I believe that with the spirit of solidarity, innovation and action, ASEAN will continue to be a dynamic, resilient and trusted space for development in the region and the world, bringing practical benefits to the people of every member country.
Thank you very much.
*The headline was provided by The People’s Deputies Newspaper.
