ASEAN Future Forum 2025 was a great success: Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet
WVR - On February 26, in Hanoi, Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet gave an interview to The World and Vietnam Report to share his insights on the occasion of the 2025 ASEAN Future Forum.
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| Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet speaks with a reporter from the World and Vietnam Report. (Photo: Tuan Anh) |
As someone who has followed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's initiative since the first ASEAN Future Forum (AFF), Deputy Foreign Minister Viet shared his impression on the second AFF in 2025.
“Over the past two days, we have had an extremely successful forum. In particular, compared to 2024, it can be said that this year’s event was a resounding success. Naturally, after a year, we have made significant efforts to improve the organization, refine the agenda, and allow more time for countries, scholars, and partners to better understand and engage with the forum”, the Deputy Minister noted.
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| ASEAN Future Forum 2025: The Heads of delegations take a group photo at the AFF Opening ceremony on Fabruary 25. 2025. (Photo: Nguyen Hong) |
He also expressed his delight that this year’s forum has made remarkable progress in both scale and substance. In terms of scale, the forum welcomed three high-level national leaders, approximately ten Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers, and over 200 international delegates. In total, around 600 to 700 participants attended this year’s forum.
These impressive figures, the Deputy Foreign Minister stressed, reflect the strong engagement and interest from countries, partners, scholars, and experts both within and beyond the region in the ASEAN Future Forum 2025.
The Deputy Minister also shared his impressions from attending several sessions and engaging in in-depth discussions with delegates. He noted that all of them agreed this year’s Forum featured outstanding improvements in quality, with new content, high-quality speeches, meaningful exchanges, and insightful questions
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| Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet as Moderator at the high-level plenary session on February 26, 2025. (Photo: Tuan Anh) |
"I personally had the opportunity to moderate a session and was extremely impressed by the questions, especially those from young participants at the Diplomatic Academy. The questions were both relevant and specific, allowing leaders to provide in-depth answers and discussions. From every perspective, I believe this Forum was a great success," he remarked, citing this as an example.
Regarding the question about exporting ASEAN’s centrality to the world and promoting this model amid challenges to multilateralism, Deputy Minister Viet noted that exporting a model or a way of doing things might be an overstatement. However, he acknowledged that ASEAN has gained significant experience. It has undergone a remarkable transformation—from a region once marked by conflict, war, and confrontation, with deep-seated differences, into one of dynamic economic and social development. Today, ASEAN fosters growing cohesion among nations, closer exchanges and connections among people, and an exceptionally deep mutual understanding.
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the high-level plenary session. (Photo: Tuan Anh) |
"We have achieved this thanks to ASEAN and ASEAN’s way—its unique approach, operational methods, and the mechanisms it organizes and leads. Therefore, it is true that we have valuable experience to share with other countries and regions. The ASEAN Future Forum serves as an opportunity to showcase ASEAN’s way of doing things, as well as the issues it prioritizes and promotes", he emphasized.
Above all, he noted, many international delegates also highlighted ASEAN’s lessons, enabling other regions and countries to draw insights for their own development and progress
Regarding Vietnam’s contributions after its three-decade journey with ASEAN, the Deputy Minister expressed his belief that the country will continue to play a proactive and constructive role. As Vietnam enters a new era requiring stronger development across all fields, its foreign affairs sector—as well as its participation in ASEAN—will also need to meet higher expectations.
It is about both contributing to ASEAN’s common efforts by fulfilling the obligations of a member state and simultaneously thinking ahead, developing, and proposing new ideas to help ASEAN continuously improve its working methods while seeking solutions to shared challenges faced by all nations.
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Timor-Leste’s President José Ramos-Horta, Malaysian Prime Minister and ASEAN 2025 Chairman Dato' Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon take a group photo on February 26, 2025. (Phot;: Tuan Anh) |
“We recognize that the issues currently confronting ASEAN countries and the world at large are challenges that affect everyone—from climate change, food security, and water security to green energy, digital transformation, cybercrime, and transnational crime. No single country can address these issues alone”, he said
“Therefore, ASEAN countries must work closely together to find the best and most beneficial solutions for both their nations and their people”, Deputy Minister Viet concluded.
| The ASEAN Future Forum 2025 took place from February 25 to 26, with over 600 delegates attending in person, including more than 230 international participants—an increase of over 2.5 times compared to 2024. Notably, this year's Forum was honoured by the presence of Timor-Leste’s President José Ramos-Horta, Malaysian Prime Minister and ASEAN 2025 Chairman Dato' Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn also attended, alongside recorded messages from the Prime Minister of Thailand, the President of the European Commission, and the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Additionally, more than 10 Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers participated in person or sent recorded messages. The Forum also welcomed 160 diplomatic corps representatives (including 40 Ambassadors) and 230 domestic delegates, among them 20 ministry leaders and 10 provincial leaders. |
(Source: WVR)
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