ASEAN does not sacrifice equity, social progress and environmental protection for mere economic growth.

Speaking at ASEAN BIS, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that ASEAN needs to develop in a direction that does not sacrifice fairness, social progress and environmental protection in exchange for mere economic growth.

ASEAN-43: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that ASEAN does not sacrifice fairness, social progress and environmental protection in exchange for mere economic growth. (Photo: Duong Giang)

Within the framework of the 43rd ASEAN Summit and related conferences in Jakarta, Indonesia, on the afternoon of September 4 (local time), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended and delivered a speech at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ASEAN BIS) 2023.

ASEAN BIS is the largest annual business-related forum in Southeast Asia, held within the framework of the ASEAN Summit, with the participation of heads of state from ASEAN countries, partner countries, ministers, senior officials, policy makers and major business leaders from ASEAN and the world.

With the theme: "ASEAN at its core: Innovation for greater inclusion", ASEAN BIS 2023 focuses on discussing five main topics including: digital transformation and sustainable development; food security; healthcare, healthcare to ensure business operations and trade and investment facilitation.

Speaking at the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that the multipolar world situation is an inevitable trend, strategic competition between major countries is increasingly fierce, and the trend of fragmentation and gathering of forces is increasingly evident.

ASEAN faces the mission of affirming itself as "a pole in a multipolar world", as the center of cooperation and structure in the region, and ASEAN is fully capable of undertaking that mission.

To prove his point, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh clearly analyzed that ASEAN has a wide open economic space with a network of 8 free trade agreements (FTAs) including the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and 7 FTAs ​​with important partners, of which the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) creates a free trade area accounting for 30% of the world's population (with over 688 million people) and 32% of global GDP (over 3,600 billion USD in 2022).

In addition, many new initiatives are also being strongly promoted so that ASEAN can promptly grasp and take advantage of opportunities from new development trends such as building the ASEAN Digital Economic Framework Agreement, Circular Economic Framework, Blue Economic Framework, Carbon Neutral Strategy, etc.; negotiating to upgrade the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between ASEAN and China, Korea, Japan, India, etc.

According to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, an independent and self-reliant ASEAN is a bright spot in economic growth, with a growth rate of 5.6% in 2022. ASEAN's growth in 2023 is forecast to reach 4.5%, higher than the growth rate forecast for the group of developed countries; intra-bloc trade reached over 856 billion USD, accounting for about 22% of ASEAN's total trade turnover; intra-bloc investment reached nearly 27 billion USD, accounting for about 12% of the region's total FDI. ASEAN effectively responded to challenges in energy security, food security; steadily overcame the Covid-19 pandemic...

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. (Photo: Duong Giang)

ASEAN plays an important role in regional cooperation mechanisms through relations and cooperation with external partners. Through mechanisms such as ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3, East Asia Summit (EAS), etc., ASEAN countries have created and maintained balanced and flexible relations with ASEAN's external partners.

All countries support ASEAN's central role and accept ASEAN's common principles and standards; 43 countries have joined the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC).

In order for ASEAN to continue to promote its role and position as well as take advantage of and seize opportunities from the current world order, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that ASEAN needs to consolidate and strengthen internal solidarity; maintain ASEAN's common principles, stances and viewpoints; and maintain strategic balance in relations between ASEAN and its partners.

ASEAN also needs to maintain its long-term commitment to opening markets, promoting trade and investment; always open the door to investors, creative ideas and talents; continue to strongly promote free trade agreements, regional and global economic linkages; enhance deeper regional integration to better exploit each other's strengths to seize opportunities in the new global economy, especially new growth drivers such as digital transformation, green transformation, circular economy, and sharing economy.

According to the proposal of the head of the Vietnamese Government, ASEAN needs to develop in a direction that does not sacrifice fairness, social progress and environmental protection in exchange for mere economic growth; firmly adhere to the people-centered approach in the process of building the ASEAN community, taking the people as the center, subject, goal and driving force of development.

To further promote the role of enterprises in promoting growth and creating new breakthroughs for ASEAN, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that governments and enterprises of countries need to cooperate increasingly closely, effectively and substantially.

In particular, countries need to work together to improve institutions through standardizing and harmonizing investment and business regulations in ASEAN, simplifying procedures through digital transformation; encouraging and respecting the voice of businesses to promptly remove newly arising obstacles.

Within the framework of ASEAN-43, the signing ceremony of the document of accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) took place by three countries: Kuwait, Serbia and Panama, bringing the total number of members of the Treaty to 54. (Photo: Anh Son)

The government and the business community must join hands to develop strategic infrastructure, including hard infrastructure for transportation, energy and smart infrastructure including digital platforms, innovation centers, etc. In particular, the government and businesses need to strengthen infrastructure connectivity between countries, create regional connectivity, and focus on the public-private partnership model to promote the strength and resources of the state and businesses.

At the same time, the government and businesses need to work together to build high-quality human resources, especially in the fields of digital transformation, green transformation, and high technology, with common standards for training, assessment, and mutual recognition between diploma systems. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized: "This is the key to improving labor productivity and competitiveness of our region."

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hopes that businesses will take the lead in innovation; be responsible to the community and society, especially in remote, isolated and disadvantaged areas so that no one is left behind; improve business capacity and ethics; comply with the law; build a business culture, contributing to building the national cultural identity of each country; unite and support each other in production and business, and grow together.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that as a reliable partner and an active and responsible member, Vietnam will continue to closely coordinate with Indonesia and other ASEAN countries to strive to build a united, united, self-reliant and developed ASEAN, contributing to maintaining an environment of peace, stability, cooperation and common development in the region and the world. Vietnam calls on investors to come to Vietnam for development together, with the motto of "harmonious benefits, shared risks".

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh believes that ASEAN in general and the business community in particular will catch up with new trends, effectively respond to challenges, ensure a balance between the goals of short-term growth recovery and long-term sustainable development, maximize new development opportunities, and bring practical benefits to the people and the ASEAN Community as well as businesses themselves.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/asean-43-asean-khong-hy-sinh-su-cong-bang-tien-bo-xa-hoi-va-bao-ve-moi-truong-de-doi-lay-tang-truong-kinh-te-don-thuan-240818.html