Forum of every citizen for a sustainable ASEAN development

The ASEAN Future Forum 2024 (AFF 2024) will be held on April 23 in Hanoi. The event is a large-scale event with the participation of 200-300 delegates in person and online.

The initiative to organize the ASEAN Future Forum was announced by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the 43rd ASEAN Summit (Jakarta, Indonesia, September 2023).

This is Vietnam's idea with the desire to contribute with member countries, friends, partners of ASEAN and all classes of ASEAN people to promote the shaping of the future development path for ASEAN.

In 2024, the ASEAN Future Forum will take the theme “Building a fast-growing, sustainable, people-centered ASEAN Community”. The theme reflects the current major concerns of the Vietnamese Government as well as the common concerns of ASEAN and countries around the world, closely linked to the development orientation of ASEAN and Vietnam, especially promoting sustainable economic growth, “people-oriented” and “people-centered”.

Tương lai ASEAN 2024: Diễn đàn của mỗi người dân vì một ASEAN phát triển bền vững

The ASEAN Future Forum 2024 will be held on April 23 in Hanoi. Photo: Anh Son

According to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet, after nearly 6 decades of existence and development, ASEAN is preparing to enter a new stage of development. The new situation raises many big questions for ASEAN now and in the future, such as: How to maintain its central role and adapt to changes in the region and the world? How can ASEAN adapt, balance and harmonize the interests of its members as well as between ASEAN and its partner countries? How can ASEAN develop rapidly, create increasing prosperity, but at the same time ensure the sustainability of development, with people at the center of that process?...

“ Organizing the Forum is also Vietnam’s specific contribution to the common effort towards building a people-centered ASEAN community, promoting the rapid and sustainable development of ASEAN. At the Forum, delegates will discuss and exchange ideas to find answers to the above questions,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet emphasized.

On the eve of the ASEAN Future Forum 2024, Dr. Vu Le Thai Hoang - Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies of Foreign Affairs, said that the Forum will be a channel to provide ideas and initiatives for the process of building the ASEAN vision to 2045 and contribute the voice of the region at the United Nations Future Summit (scheduled to be held in September 2024).

Dr. Vu Le Thai Hoang hopes that with diverse participants and an open nature, Vietnam hopes that the Forum will contribute to promoting multi-dimensional interactions, creating opportunities for people to participate more deeply in the ASEAN process; for friends and partners to better understand ASEAN and promote more comprehensive and substantive cooperation and engagement with ASEAN.

Meanwhile, sharing about Vietnam's initiative to organize the ASEAN Future Forum 2024, Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam Denny Abdi said that the world today is different from 10 years ago with many uncertain factors, so efforts from Vietnam as well as other ASEAN members are always needed to ensure that the "ASEAN boat" always moves forward.

Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam Denny Abdi. Photo: AP

Ambassador Denny Abdi stressed that this initiative is very timely because the world is becoming more complex and the challenges today are quite different from those of 10 years ago. Competition between major powers is becoming more intense, along with uncertain economic growth forecasts. In addition, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the situation in the Middle East have raised serious humanitarian and migration concerns. Climate change and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic have also created disruptions to global food security and other socio-economic consequences.

On the other hand, we are experiencing rapid developments in high technology, digital, AI, which require even more multi-dimensional cooperation...

For Indonesia, the event fits well with the theme of Indonesia’s 2023 ASEAN Chairmanship: “ASEAN at the Heart of Growth”.

“We hope that ASEAN will always be a relevant organization, maintaining its unity and central role in the context of many changes in the region and the world, both now and in the future. Therefore, Indonesia supports Vietnam's initiative and looks forward to participating in the Forum,” said Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam Denny Abdi.

Similarly, Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam supported the organization of the ASEAN Future Forum 2024. He said that this is an important and necessary framework for countries in the region to grasp issues as ASEAN is preparing to enter a new development phase on the basis of implementing the ASEAN Community Vision after 2025.

“ The global context remains challenging, with significant geopolitical headwinds and uncertainties. ASEAN itself is grappling with new internal and external challenges. Amidst such uncertainties, our immediate task is to ensure that ASEAN continues to make progress in providing better livelihoods for all its peoples. We must also continue to ensure that ASEAN remains central to the region, ” Ambassador Jaya Ratnam said, adding that regional members can only do this if ASEAN pursues a positive agenda and delivers substantive cooperation, thereby maintaining trust, relevance and centrality.

The ASEAN Future Forum 2024 will be held in an open format, with the participation of both Government representatives and other agencies; it is expected that the Forum will create a framework for regional and non-regional stakeholders to come together to provide ideas and initiatives for the process of building the ASEAN vision to 2045 and implementing the vision in the coming time; representing the voice and contribution of the region to the effort to orient the future development of the world through the United Nations Future Summit, scheduled to be held in September. This is also Vietnam's specific contribution to the common effort towards building a people-centered ASEAN community, promoting the rapid and sustainable development of ASEAN.

The theme of “Building a fast-growing, sustainable, people-centered ASEAN Community” was directly raised by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and has been given great attention and promotion in recent times. It is expected that the Head of Government will deliver a keynote speech at the opening session of the Forum with the Lao Prime Minister in his capacity as ASEAN Chair 2024 and ASEAN Secretary-General. In addition, there will be recorded messages from the UN Secretary-General and the Prime Minister of Malaysia - the ASEAN Chair 2025 - at the opening session on April 23.

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