After the successful ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat held in Langkawi, Malaysia on January 19 under the chairmanship of Malaysia, Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet gave an interview to the press.
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| Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet. |
Could you please share the significance and results of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers ' Retreat held in Langkawi, Malaysia, on January 19?
The ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat held in Langkawi, Malaysia on January 19 under the chairmanship of Malaysia was a great success. Although it only lasted for one day, the Foreign Ministers had in-depth discussions on many issues and reached consensus on many important contents.
The results and significance of this Conference can be summarized into the following three points.
Firstly, the Conference officially kicked off a year of vibrant ASEAN cooperation. As the first activity of ASEAN Foreign Ministers during Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2025, the Conference agreed on the orientation and priorities, as well as initiatives on the pillars of cooperation to materialize the theme “Inclusiveness and Sustainability”.
In terms of politics and security, ASEAN will prioritize strengthening ASEAN’s central role in strengthening strategic trust through dialogue, diplomacy and goodwill. At the same time, ASEAN will continue to promote and expand effective and substantive relations and cooperation with partner countries and regional organizations.
ASEAN will also prioritize sustainable and inclusive growth on the basis of promoting economic cooperation and connectivity, increasing trade and investment through implementing the upgraded version 3.0 of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), promoting negotiations on the ASEAN Digital Economy Agreement (DEFA), connecting markets and supply chains, developing green finance and investment, etc.
In terms of culture and society, countries focus on placing sustainability and inclusiveness at the heart of the community building process, to ensure that no one is left behind, narrow the development gap, improve people's quality of life and minimize the impact of climate change.
In short, it is not by chance that the above themes and priorities were put forward, but on the basis of inheriting and promoting the achievements ASEAN has achieved in previous years. Specifically, most recently in 2024, under the chairmanship of the Lao Chairman and the theme "ASEAN: Promoting Connectivity and Resilience", ASEAN has achieved many successes in areas such as trade and investment liberalization, digital economy, circular economy, carbon neutrality, small and medium enterprise development, environmental protection and climate change adaptation, etc.
These cooperative contents continue to be included in ASEAN's agenda this year with new updates, demonstrating ASEAN's proactiveness and flexibility in the face of changing situations. This also shows once again that although ASEAN's priorities over the years may be diverse in form and rich in implementation methods, in essence they are all aimed at realizing ASEAN's common long-term goal of building a united, self-reliant community that plays a central role and brings practical benefits to the people.
Second, the Summit has initially laid the foundation for long-term cooperation and development of ASEAN. 2025 is a special year marking a decade of building the ASEAN Community, and is also an important time to prepare for the ASEAN Community to enter a new stage of development.
With tireless efforts, countries are summarizing the process of building the Community over the past 10 years, while urgently completing the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and strategic plans on politics-security, economics, culture-society and connectivity to put into implementation from 2026. In that regard, the priorities and initiatives that ASEAN has set for 2025 are not only aimed at meeting ASEAN's current needs but also creating more momentum and strengthening the determination to build an ASEAN community that is "innovative, resilient, dynamic and people-centered".
Finally, the Summit reaffirmed the message of a united ASEAN playing a central role in a volatile world.
Taking place in the context of the complicated developments in the international and regional situation, the Conference recorded frank exchanges between countries on all issues of common concern. Major power strategic competition, the situation in the East Sea, Myanmar, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Middle East, the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC)... were all discussed in an open, objective and constructive spirit.
Although each member country has its own assessment or stance, in general, all countries share the importance of maintaining solidarity and enhancing ASEAN's central role in promoting dialogue and cooperation for peace, stability and common prosperity in the region. In the face of increasing pressure and demand for cooperation from external partners, ASEAN also agrees on the need to strengthen regional self-reliance and autonomy, in parallel with expanding and deepening cooperation with partners in an equal, effective and substantive manner.
The above results of the Conference will facilitate ASEAN to firmly enter a new stage, continue to promote its role as a growth engine and an important factor contributing to peace, security, cooperation and prosperity in the region.
Could you tell us about Vietnam's contributions at the Conference?
In the spirit of proactiveness, positivity and creativity, the Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son attended and made many positive contributions to the success of the Conference. Those contributions were demonstrated in the following aspects:
Firstly, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son conveyed Vietnam's strong support for the Chair of Malaysia and the theme of 2025, as well as its commitment to closely coordinate with other countries to effectively implement the set priorities. In particular, in the context of ASEAN preparing to enter a new phase of cooperation and development, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister emphasized the importance of maintaining ASEAN solidarity and consensus, promoting independence and strategic autonomy in the face of increasingly complex developments in the world and regional situation.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister shared many important ideas and proposals on the process of building the Community, focusing on three key points, including strengthening regional economic integration to maintain regional growth and prosperity, effectively exploiting the potential of new technologies to create more momentum for growth, and promoting an inclusive ASEAN community with people at the center to ensure that no one is left behind. The Deputy Prime Minister also affirmed that Vietnam will continue to actively support Timor Leste to successfully implement the Roadmap to become a full member of ASEAN and soon join the ASEAN family.
Along with those strategic orientations are specific initiatives and actions that Vietnam will implement in 2025, notably the ASEAN Future Forum 2025 with the theme “Building a united, resilient and inclusive ASEAN Community in a changing world” in Hanoi from February 25-26. This is also the second consecutive time we have hosted this Forum, thereby attracting the broad participation of many groups and sectors to suggest creative and innovative ideas for the development, connection and cooperation of ASEAN.
Second, discussing cooperation between ASEAN and its partners, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister shared the opportunities, advantages, and challenges as ASEAN increasingly attracts attention from external partners. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister emphasized that ASEAN needs to continue to deepen and deepen its relations and cooperation, expand cooperation with new partners on the basis of mutual benefit, practicality, and promote solidarity and centrality.
As the coordinator of ASEAN-UK and ASEAN-New Zealand relations for the 2024-2027 period, Vietnam is also actively and proactively developing agendas to further develop these relations, contributing to the process of building the ASEAN Community. In the immediate future, Vietnam will coordinate with ASEAN countries and New Zealand to prepare for the Summit to celebrate 50 years of ASEAN-New Zealand relations with the goal of elevating the ASEAN-New Zealand Strategic Partnership for peace, development and prosperity.
Finally, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister shared candidly, objectively assessed and made specific proposals on international and regional issues of common concern. The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that ASEAN needs to maintain a balanced and objective approach, enhance its role and voice in issues related to peace, security, stability and development in the region and the world.
Regarding the East Sea issue, we reaffirm the importance of maintaining ASEAN's solidarity and principled stance, calling on countries to persistently cooperate to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), promote negotiations on an effective, substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 UNCLOS. We also commit and stand ready to cooperate with the 2025 ASEAN Chair and the Special Envoy of the Chair on Myanmar and make a number of specific proposals to enhance the effectiveness of the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus (5PC), promote dialogue among relevant parties to create a favorable environment for elections and reconciliation in Myanmar, and cooperate to support Myanmar in responding to transnational crimes.
In short, the active and proactive participation right from the preparation stage and the contributions of the Vietnamese delegation at the Conference were recognized and highly appreciated by the countries. This is even more meaningful in the context of 2025 marking the 30th anniversary of Vietnam's participation in ASEAN, thereby affirming our consistent policy on multilateral foreign affairs, in which ASEAN is the most directly and most important multilateral cooperation mechanism.
Thank you, Deputy Minister!
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