“It is necessary to preserve the spirit of independence, resilience, and self-sufficiency and the common stance of the bloc towards regional and international issues,” said the Vietnamese head of the government during the opening session of the ASEAN Future Forum 2024, which brings together almost 500 delegates under the theme “Towards rapid and sustainable growth of a people-centered ASEAN community”.

The functionary considered that the bloc must improve strategic trust between its members and partners to mitigate conflicts and maintain stability and prosperity in the area and the world, as well as promote green growth and the digital economy as new engines of development.

The prime minister also warned that ASEAN faces multiple challenges such as development gaps among its members and modest interconnections within the community, despite being the fifth-largest economy in the world. “Emerging green growth and circular economy trends require new approaches taking into account global breadth and context to achieve lasting economic benefits, and this requires enhancing the capacity of the ASEAN community to remove barriers to stable and sustainable development”, he pointed out.

The Vietnamese Prime Minister reaffirmed Vietnam’s readiness to actively work with member states and partners of the association and thus contribute to regional and global peace, stability, cooperation, and development, focusing on the people as it does so.

In the opening session of the forum, the Prime Minister of Laos, Sonexay Siphandone, applauded Vietnam’s initiative to convene the event, addressed the economic and security challenges that the bloc may face, urged it to respond to them promptly, advocated to increase integration and economic connection, and called to ensure inclusive growth and advance in the digital society and technological competitiveness.

In the same sense, the Secretary General of ASEAN, Kao Kim Hourn, praised the contributions that will surely emerge from the meeting.

jrr/llp/lam/mpm