48th ASEAN Summit to inject fresh momentum into ASEAN: Ambassador Ton Thi Ngoc Huong
WVR - On the occasion of Prime Minister Le Minh Hung attending the 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, Philippines (May 7-8), Ambassador Ton Thi Ngoc Huong, Head of the Vietnamese Delegation to ASEAN, shared with The World and Vietnam Report the significance of this summit for the association's development trajectory.
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| Politburo Member, Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung at the second special online conference among ASEAN countries to respond to the situation in the Middle East on April 13, 2026. (Photo: Thanh Long) |
Although a regular event, each ASEAN Summit holds its own significance in steering the ASEAN 'vessel' to stay on course and achieve numerous accomplishments. For the 48th Summit, according to the Ambassador, what challenges and opportunities does ASEAN face, and how does this highlight the significance of this summit?
Indeed, each Summit is an opportunity for the ASEAN 'vessel' to be energized, preparing for its journey to the next destination.
ASEAN countries have the advantage of being at the centre of a region that converges many dynamic economies, where one of the world's most important maritime routes passes through. However, this region also faces intertwined impacts from global conflicts, instability, geopolitical and geoeconomic competition, and both traditional and non-traditional security challenges. In this volatile environment, as the world operates outside desired trajectories, 2026 is the time for ASEAN countries to collectively steer the 'vessel' through challenges towards the future.
Overcoming challenges can lead to seizing emerging opportunities. Growth breakthroughs will come if ASEAN leverages its nearly six decades of cooperation and a long-term vision agreed upon until 2045. Additionally, with the fifth-largest economy in the world, projected to rise to fourth by 2030, ASEAN is a hub of multi-layered regional economic linkages, a central point in crucial regional and global supply chains, and a source of new growth drivers based on the digital economy, technology, and innovation, with a young, skilled workforce and an expanding middle class. Furthermore, Timor Leste's accession to ASEAN marks a significant development, expanding the bloc's strategic space.
The year 2026 marks the first year ASEAN concretely implements the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and strategic plans across four pillars: Political-Security, Economic, Socio-Cultural, and Connectivity, entering a new development cycle. Challenges arise from the early months, as ASEAN countries must coordinate responses to energy security challenges, supply chain disruptions, and inflationary pressures threatening growth achievements. The task, though not new, is not simple: maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for regional development; enhancing economic integration; sustaining growth momentum; promoting the renewal of growth drivers; strengthening connectivity and improving people's livelihoods.
In this context, the 48th ASEAN Summit is a crucial occasion for the leaders of the 11 member countries to discuss, agree on directions, and cooperation roadmaps for the new phase; to propose timely decisions to respond to the changing environment, ensuring the successful implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, bringing tangible and substantial benefits to the people, businesses, and community.
This is also an opportunity for ASEAN to strengthen internal solidarity, affirm its resilience and capability as an effective multilateral cooperation and regional integration model, based on dialogue, trust, and mutually beneficial cooperation; while continuing to reinforce ASEAN's central role and the value of ASEAN-led mechanisms, such as EAS, ARF, or ADMM , which are important dialogue forums involving major countries.
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| ASEAN Foreign Ministers participate in a special online meeting to discuss tensions in the Middle East on March 13, 2026. (Photo: Thanh Long) |
Recently, in providing information to the press about the 48th ASEAN Summit, Philippine Foreign Minister Theresa Lazaro emphasized ensuring energy security, food security, and the protection of ASEAN citizens as the three main themes of this summit. Ambassador, could you evaluate the timeliness of these themes and ASEAN's "rapid response" spirit in the context of recent geopolitical fluctuations?
The priority topics proposed by the ASEAN 2026 Chair – the Philippines – for discussion at the 48th ASEAN Summit include energy security, food security, and citizen protection, which are timely and urgent issues for the region. Recent conflicts and instability in the Middle East have posed significant challenges to the economic security and safety of ASEAN member states' citizens. In response, the ASEAN 2026 Chair has actively and proactively played a coordinating role, with ASEAN countries swiftly coordinating timely responses.
Immediately after the conflict erupted, ASEAN Foreign Ministers issued a joint statement on the Middle East situation on March 4. Two special online meetings of ASEAN Foreign Ministers were held on March 13 and April 13 to analyze political, security, and economic impacts and seek appropriate coordinated actions.
In the economic channel, the 32nd ASEAN Economic Ministers' Retreat on March 13 issued a joint statement on enhancing economic resilience amid global geopolitical and economic fluctuations. The special ASEAN Energy Ministers' Meeting on April 27 and the special ASEAN Economic Community Council (AECC) Meeting on April 30 also adopted joint statements related to addressing the energy and economic consequences of the Middle East situation.
At the 48th ASEAN Summit, leaders will continue to discuss and agree on coordinated measures to ensure energy security, food security, and the protection of citizens' security and safety, along with long-term directions to enhance resilience and self-reliance of regional economies. Identifying challenges, proactively adapting, and acting promptly have always been strengths that ASEAN has effectively leveraged to strengthen the ASEAN Community's response capacity and resilience in difficult and crisis situations.
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| The 5th ASEAN-UK Joint Cooperation Committee meeting in March 2026. (Photo: Chu Van) |
At the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN, an important body implementing many of ASEAN's key directions, could the Ambassador share the general atmosphere in executing the ASEAN Community's development roadmaps, including Vietnam's contributions?
The Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR) is one of the key bodies in ASEAN's machinery, serving as a focal point for implementing cross-sectoral cooperation areas such as connectivity and narrowing development gaps through the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), as well as coordinating relations with external partners and directly overseeing the activities of the ASEAN Secretariat.
In the first year of implementing the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, amid complex regional and international fluctuations, the demands on CPR are increasing. The workload in coordinating and promoting intra-bloc cooperation and with partners has significantly increased, with a continuous rise in the number of documents needing negotiation and preparation for summits and ministerial meetings with partners.
Intra-group, CPR has just completed negotiations on the Implementation Plan for the ASEAN Connectivity Strategic Plan, an important document concretizing the Community Vision 2045, identifying a list of priority projects and activities to promote ASEAN connectivity, especially infrastructure connectivity. CPR is also negotiating the Implementation Plan for the ASEAN Work Plan on Narrowing the Development Gap V, for the 2026-2030 period, ensuring efforts to narrow development gaps are concretized and deepened. Another important content is the criteria for Dialogue Partnership relations, a key foundation for ASEAN to consider expanding relations with potential partners consistently and in line with the region's strategic interests.
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| The Vietnamese Delegation to ASEAN co-chaired with the New Zealand Delegation a meeting to review ASEAN-New Zealand cooperation progress on April 24. (Source: VNA) |
Additionally, CPR is advancing negotiations on numerous documents with partners, such as joint statements, action plans, cooperation frameworks, to effectively harness resources supporting ASEAN's priorities, implementing the Community Vision 2045, while enhancing the region's response capability to global geopolitical and geoeconomic fluctuations. CPR also maintains regular exchanges with partners through meetings of the Joint Cooperation Committee, Dialogue Partner Committees by field/Development Partners, and Ambassador-level meetings of countries participating in the East Asia Summit (EAS) to update and discuss international and regional issues of mutual concern.
In this overall effort, Vietnam continues to be an active, responsible member with substantial contributions. As the coordinator of ASEAN-UK relations for the 2024-2027 period, the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to ASEAN is leading negotiations on two important documents on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of establishing the ASEAN-UK Dialogue Partnership: the Joint Statement of ASEAN-UK Foreign Ministers on cooperation within the AOIP framework to promote cooperation in four priority areas; and the ASEAN-UK Action Plan for 2027-2031, guiding cooperation for the next five years.
In its role as the coordinator of ASEAN-New Zealand relations for the 2024-2027 period, Vietnam has led the approval of the Terms of Reference, launching the ASEAN-New Zealand Vision Fund, a crucial resource for implementing commitments in the ASEAN-New Zealand Action Plan 2026–2030, concretizing the comprehensive strategic partnership established in 2025.
The delegation is also coordinating efforts to mobilize, promote ASEAN countries and partners to continue supporting, participating, and contributing effectively to the ASEAN Future Forum 2026, an important initiative by Vietnam since 2024, highly appreciated and actively supported by countries.
Thank you, Ambassador!
