Specifically, during his stay in Labuan Bajo, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had nearly 20 activities, both bilateral and multilateral.
With the Summit’s theme of “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth,” PM Pham Minh Chinh and other participating leaders discussed and outlined the future of the ASEAN Community for the next 20 years, with stronger development goals and aspirations.
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Leaders of ASEAN countries visit Labuan Bajo. |
The Prime Minister highlighted three core factors to ASEAN’s characteristics, values, vitality and reputation, which are maintaining independence and strategy self-reliance, turning itself into a growth epicenter, and better adapting to external shocks.
He emphasized that strengthening solidarity and unity should be the key task for an independent and self-resilient ASEAN.
Given risks and uncertainties of the global economy, the Vietnamese leader stressed the urgent need for the 10-member grouping to expand the intra market in order to promote recovery and sustainable development, calling for efforts in negotiations to advance the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, and concertedly and drastically rolling out projects on regional connectivity in terms of institutions, infrastructure and people.
With the spirit of taking people as the growth center, target and momentum in ASEAN Community building, the bloc should work to narrow its development gap, especially in remote areas and sub-regions, he continued.
To achieve the goal of and aspirations for peace, security, stability and prosperity, he appealed to ASEAN member countries to join hands in building self-resilience and solidarity, unlock development resources, and raise breakthrough initiatives to build the ASEAN Community, helping the bloc turn itself into a growth epicenter regionally and globally.
PM Pham Minh Chinh’s proposals received support and were appreciated by other ASEAN leaders.
During his stay, he attended dialogues between leaders of ASEAN countries and representatives of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC), and the High-Level Task Force on ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision.
He also had bilateral meetings with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and Prime Minister of Timor-Leste Taur Matan Ruak.
At these meetings, PM Pham Minh Chinh and leaders of ASEAN countries discussed the implementation of agreements, commitments and measures to strengthen cooperation, with specific and substantive contents.
The Vietnamese leader’s participation in the 42nd ASEAN Summit and related activities affirms that Vietnam makes positive, proactive, and responsible contribution to strengthening ASEAN solidarity and effectively responding to challenges. It also demonstrates Vietnam's priorities in terms of strategic infrastructure connectivity, digital transformation, green transformation, food security, energy, sub-regional development, and response to climate change, affirming the role, image, and prestige of ASEAN, thereby contributing to the building of the ASEAN Community, and upholding ASEAN's principled stance on international and regional issues.
The activities are an effective implementation of the foreign policy of the 13th National Party Congress on continuing to promote and improve the efficiency of foreign affairs and international integration and Directive 25 of the Secretariat on strengthening and raising the level of multilateral diplomacy by 2030.
Source: VNA