Deputy FM Dang Hoang Giang: Three outstanding outcomes of the 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits
WVR -Head of Vietnam's ASEAN SOM, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dang Hoang Giang shares the results of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's participation in the 47th ASEAN Summit and related summits.
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| Opening session of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, October 26. (Source: VGP) |
Could you please share the outcomes of the ASEAN Summits and the meetings between ASEAN and its partners?
Amidst global and regional challenges, the 47th ASEAN Summit and related meetings concluded with significant outcomes. Notably:
Firstly, the Summit acknowledged a decade of community-building achievements through the implementation of the ASEAN Vision 2025, laying the foundation for the successful execution of the ASEAN Community Vision (ACV) 2045 and strategic plans in political-security, economic, socio-cultural, and connectivity sectors. Nearly 70 documents were adopted across these pillars, solidifying ASEAN's commitment to community-building and partnership enhancement. The admission of Timor-Leste marked a memorable milestone, being ASEAN's second expansion in 30 years (the first began with Vietnam in 1995). This timely addition expands development space and strengthens ASEAN's growth trajectory.
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| Head of Vietnam's ASEAN SOM, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dang Hoang Giang. (Photo: Bao Chi) |
Secondly, ASEAN continues to play a central and leading role in maintaining regional peace and stability, as demonstrated by supporting Cambodia and Thailand in signing a joint declaration to implement agreements ensuring peace and normalizing border relations, thereby contributing to regional security and stability.
Countries also appreciated Malaysia's chairmanship in promoting the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar; agreeing that the Consensus remains the main guideline for ASEAN's future engagement efforts, prioritizing ceasefire, ending violence, resuming dialogue, and delivering humanitarian aid to the people.
The participation of high-level leaders from partner countries and international organizations, such as the U.S. President, Chinese Premier, UN Secretary-General, and the President of the European Council, reaffirmed ASEAN's position in the policies of major global partners.
Thirdly, the Summit reaffirmed ASEAN's role as a growth driver and an indispensable link in global supply chains, trade, and investment networks, with a GDP of 3.8 trillion USD (2023), foreign investment of 226 billion USD (2024), and a network of eight trade agreements covering the region. To enhance economic autonomy and strengthen internal integration, ASEAN upgraded the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), completed the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), and promoted the ASEAN Power Grid (APG). ASEAN also agreed on strategies to leverage major trends like green economy, digital economy, artificial intelligence, and address emerging challenges such as transnational crime, cybercrime, and climate change. The Summit demonstrated ASEAN's long-term commitment to multilateralism through effective implementation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with partners, highlighted by the upgrade of the ASEAN-China FTA (ACFTA 3.0), advancing FTA upgrades with Republic of Korea, and exploring FTA negotiations with the EU and GCC.
During this occasion, Vietnam continued to demonstrate its role as an active, responsible member with two significant contributions. Firstly, under Vietnam's coordination, ASEAN and New Zealand issued a joint statement upgrading their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and adopted the 2026-2030 Action Plan to implement the newly established framework. Secondly, as Chair of the ASEAN Integration Initiative (IAI) Task Force, Vietnam led the development of the IAI Work Plan 2026-2030, approved by the Summit. This document aims to narrow development gaps, strengthen solidarity, and prioritize support for Timor-Leste to catch up with ASEAN's integration process. Vietnam's role and efforts were appreciated and acknowledged by other countries.
In the overall success, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's profound, sincere, and candid speeches at the summits emphasized the importance of peace and stability, highlighting them as prerequisites for development, underscoring the significance of ASEAN unity, and reaffirming Vietnam's commitment to contributing to ASEAN for the benefit of its people and businesses. The Prime Minister's proposals, particularly for ASEAN to harness three strategic resources – unity strength, dynamic vitality, and innovation resilience – were recognized and highly valued by member countries and partners for their responsibility, accuracy, and feasibility.
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| 15th ASEAN-United Nations Summit. (Source: VGP) |
Could you share the main outcomes of Vietnam's bilateral meetings with countries and partners during this occasion?
In just three days at the Summit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held bilateral meetings with leaders from over 20 partners, including all ASEAN countries, many leaders from major partner countries, and leaders of international and regional organizations. These meetings, though brief, achieved substantial and concrete results, most notably:
Firstly, political trust between Vietnam and other countries was strengthened. All countries expressed a desire to enhance relations with Vietnam.
The agreement of U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, new Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and many other leaders to Vietnam's proposal for increased high-level exchanges in the near future demonstrates their recognition and appreciation of Vietnam's role in the region, supporting Vietnam's stability, development, and growing importance in ASEAN and internationally.
Secondly, Vietnam and key partners reached consensus on several important issues reflecting shared interests.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang agreed to actively promote the commencement of the Hanoi – Hai Phong – Lao Cai high-speed railway. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a forthcoming 20 million USD project to build a coastal smart city resilient to natural disasters and climate change. World Bank Vice President Carlos Felipe Jaramillo affirmed the bank's commitment to meeting Vietnam's requests for faster and more effective resource mobilization to support Vietnam's socio-economic development goals.
Notably, a significant highlight of this occasion was the announcement of the Joint Statement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the United States on October 26, 2025. These are important steps contributing to a stable and sustainable foundation in Vietnam's relations with key partners, helping mobilize external resources to realize the country's strategic goals, especially the goal of double-digit growth following the 14th Party Congress.
Thirdly, in discussions, it was evident that partners genuinely support and wish for Vietnam to play a larger role in ASEAN, the Asia-Pacific region, and internationally. Leaders from many countries and international organizations were impressed by Vietnam's development pace over the past decades. All partners affirmed their respect for Vietnam's role and position, expressing a desire for Vietnam to support and promote cooperation between countries and ASEAN. This indicates that countries view Vietnam as a key member state with leadership potential in ASEAN.
As Vietnam accelerates the implementation of the Politburo's Resolution 59 on international integration in the new context and elevates multilateral diplomacy, the trust and support of international friends are invaluable political capital for Vietnam to contribute more significantly to global politics, the global economy, and human civilization, as repeatedly emphasized by our Party and General Secretary To Lam.
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| Closing of the 47th ASEAN Summit on October 28. (Source: VGP) |
What specific directions does Vietnam have to implement the outcomes of this ASEAN Summit?
This Summit concludes ASEAN 2025, a pivotal year marking ASEAN's transition into a new development phase. The outcomes achieved in meetings and exchanges between the Prime Minister and leaders of countries and organizations need to be followed up. Therefore, the implementation of these multifaceted outcomes is of special importance, requiring proactive and coordinated participation from all ministries, sectors, and localities.
In terms of direction and management, we need to quickly develop a Comprehensive Proposal and corresponding action programs to implement the ASEAN Community Vision (ACV) 2045, integrating major orientations from the Politburo's pillar resolutions, thereby implementing ACV 2045 comprehensively and in sync, enabling ASEAN to catch up with major trends and surge forward in the nation's new development era.
Implementation efforts must meet two criteria: not only focusing on quantity but also delving into quality, and not just being the responsibility of the lead agencies of the pillars or sectors, but a collective task of the political system, ensuring inter-sectoral cohesion domestically and effective cross-pillar coordination within ASEAN. Thus, it is also necessary to raise awareness among ministries, sectors, and localities about their roles and responsibilities in long-term implementation.
Additionally, ministries and sectors need to proactively plan to implement documents that have been or are about to be completed, such as ATIGA, ACFTA 3.0, DEFA, to unlock the potential of commitments and agreements, bringing direct and tangible benefits to businesses and people.
Regarding specific tasks, in the short term, we need to actively contribute to building ASEAN solidarity, especially in efforts to resolve the Myanmar issue, implement the Cambodia-Thailand peace agreement, contributing to maintaining a peaceful and stable environment in the region, favourable for ASEAN, including Vietnam, to pursue long-term goals outlined in ACV 2045.
Simultaneously, we need to focus on supporting Timor-Leste in enhancing its capacity and effectively integrating into ASEAN across all three pillars. As a country that joined earlier and achieved significant accomplishments after 30 years in ASEAN, Vietnam is well-positioned to share experiences and comprehensively support Timor-Leste in this process. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also expediting the opening of an Embassy in Timor-Leste to effectively implement this task.
Finally, we must promptly implement the agreements and commitments that Vietnam and partners reached during bilateral meetings within the Summit framework, including delegation exchanges, promoting economic-trade cooperation, food security, energy, and especially resolving existing issues to lift the EU's IUU yellow card. Ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses need to coordinate closely, actively, and urgently to ensure the synchronized and effective implementation of the outcomes achieved with partners.
Thank you, Deputy Minister!
