On the afternoon of February 26, 2025, in Hanoi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son attended and delivered the closing speech at the ASEAN Future Forum 2025.
On the afternoon of February 26, in Hanoi, the ASEAN Future Forum 2025 officially closed after two days.
The ASEAN Future Forum 2025 took place from February 25-26, with more than 600 delegates attending in person, including over 230 international delegates, an increase of more than 2.5 times compared to 2024.
In particular, this year's Forum was honored to have the presence of President of Timor Leste José Ramos-Horta; Prime Minister of Malaysia, Chair of ASEAN 2025 Dato' Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim; Prime Minister of New Zealand Christopher Luxon; Secretary General of ASEAN Kao Kim Hourn; along with a video message from the Prime Minister of Thailand, President of the European Commission and Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations; over 10 Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers of countries attending in person and sending video messages, 160 diplomatic delegates (including 40 Ambassadors) and 230 domestic delegates (including 20 leaders of ministries and branches, 10 leaders of provinces and cities).
In his closing remarks at the Forum, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed that after two days of lively discussions, the Forum had completed its ambitious agenda with hundreds of contributions and in-depth recommendations to address important issues, from megatrends to the role of women in peacebuilding, to reviewing ASEAN's fundamental principles to emerging technology governance, and many other contents.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the lively discussion atmosphere, with many sessions lasting longer than expected, clearly demonstrated the urgency of the challenges facing countries in the region as well as the common determination to find solutions to address these challenges.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister, from the rich discussions, the Forum reached some clear consensus.
First of all, the world order is undergoing enormous transformations with unprecedented uncertainties and complexities.
Recent developments in major power relations, especially in major power competition, are the clearest evidence of these changes to the world order as well as ASEAN's vision.
“For ASEAN, navigating through this uncertain transition of the global order may be the defining issue of our generation,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son.
Second, the disruptive and sometimes unpredictable impacts of technological developments, especially the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including artificial intelligence (AI), big data and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The recent emergence of China’s Deepseek AI model and Microsoft’s breakthrough with the Majorana-one quantum chip are just the early signs of a technological revolution that is rapidly unfolding. And if we don’t prepare quickly, we will be left further and further behind.
Similar advances in cutting-edge technologies over the next few months or years will continue to reshape our socio-economic landscape in ways we are only beginning to understand.
Third, we recognize the growing importance of non-traditional security challenges. The growing impacts of cyber threats, climate change, and the far-reaching socio-economic implications of rapidly ageing populations require innovative solutions that transcend national boundaries and mobilize resources at the highest levels.
Fourth, although ASEAN is facing unprecedented challenges in this period of global transformation, those challenges also open up opportunities to affirm the Association's collective strength and long-term role.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed that with its core values of solidarity and centrality, ASEAN can continue to maintain its position as a trustworthy broker, a strategic dialogue forum and, as Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said, a "beacon of hope" for sustainable development, open regionalism and a rules-based order.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son said that the Forum highlighted a number of areas that require continued dialogue and careful consideration.
"How should ASEAN maintain its core principles and values while still developing and adapting to respond to global change?" the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister asked, citing a number of opinions supporting the bold approach; the need for ASEAN to continue maintaining a consensus-based decision-making mechanism and the principle of non-interference.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister affirmed that over the past years, ASEAN has discussed many ways to change the decision-making process to improve efficiency.
Discussions between organizations and scholars continue to raise this aspect. After nearly 60 years of existence, ASEAN has been able to maintain its role, prestige and centrality thanks to its consistency with the principle of consensus building.
According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son, discussions at the Forum also raised core questions about ASEAN's role in an increasingly fragmented world.
While some support ASEAN taking a more proactive role on the international stage, others stress the need to focus on strengthening intra-bloc cohesion and integration.
“Looking ahead, the road ahead requires significant commitments. We need to maintain and strengthen ASEAN’s solidarity, resilience and inclusiveness – the core principles that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highlighted in his opening speech, which have been the foundation of our success.
We need to commit to increasing investment in critical technologies and build a common stance on new technology governance. Ultimately, only new technology can help our region escape the middle-income trap and ensure no one is left behind,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son emphasized.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son said that professional discussions at the Forum all agreed that ASEAN's development needs to take science and technology as a core tool to push the entire region forward.
“Finally, because ‘centrality must be continuously affirmed and strengthened’, we need to make efforts to innovate ways to affirm ASEAN’s central role in the regional structure and manage relations with external partners, including major countries,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son proposed.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister stated that the active participation and fresh perspectives from all delegates, including many young scholars, have contributed to enriching the exchanges and demonstrating the international community’s deep concern for ASEAN’s future development path; he said that when ASEAN finalizes its strategic agenda for the Community Vision 2045, the opinions and proposals from this Forum will be a valuable source of reference.
*Previously, also on the afternoon of February 26, the ASEAN Future Forum 2025 continued with the fourth Plenary Session with the theme: "Governing emerging technologies to ensure comprehensive security" and the fifth Plenary Session with the theme: "ASEAN's role in connecting and promoting peace in a fragmented world."
During the fourth plenary session, the discussion opinions shared the view that the governance of emerging technologies is a key factor to ensure comprehensive security for the Southeast Asian region in the context of a volatile world.
Delegates delved into the multidimensional interactions between advanced technology and regional security in ASEAN and around the world. Experts discussed the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, synthetic biology and other emerging technologies in both the military and civilian sectors.
In particular, the focus is on finding the balance between technological innovation and responsible governance, addressing potential risks and building an ethical framework.
Delegates had lively discussions, focusing on building international standards, perfecting the legal framework, promoting responsible behavior of countries and establishing effective monitoring mechanisms, thereby creating conditions for important technologies to contribute positively to strengthening ASEAN's comprehensive security.
During the fifth plenary session, delegates focused on discussing ASEAN's potential and role in bridging the gap between countries in a fragmented world.
The discussion revolved around ASEAN's central role in the reshaping regional architecture, with particular emphasis on its ability to promote dialogue amid competition among major powers.
In addition, experts focused on analyzing how ASEAN can take advantage of its unique position in promoting cooperation, including sub-multilateral cooperation, while maintaining intra-bloc solidarity; finding new solutions to enhance ASEAN's voice at international forums, while strengthening ASEAN's cohesive role, balancing regional interests and global challenges./.
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