Held from September 5-7 with 12 high-level meetings, the 43rd ASEAN Summit will focus on four main pillars, including upholding the long-term vision of the region, strengthening ASEAN’s resilience in facing the challenges, promoting ASEAN as a centre of economic growth, and making the Indo-Pacific a region of peace and prosperity.
A new regional cooperation platform called ASEAN Concord IV is expected to be approved this time.
Themed “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth”, the events are attracting the participation of leaders of 10 ASEAN member states, and Timor-Leste as an observer, and nine dialogue partners, two guest countries, and nine international organisations.
At the plenary session of the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia on September 5, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the importance of strengthening ASEAN's self-reliance, and facilitating trade and investment flows to maintain ASEAN’s stature and role of growth epicenter.
The Vietnamese leader urged ASEAN countries to urgently address policy and institutional bottlenecks and barriers, maintain the stability of the internal supply chain in order to improve the region's resilience against external impacts.
PM Chinh also suggested ASEAN economic ministers vigorously oversee the review, upgrade, and renegotiation of free trade agreements between ASEAN and its partners to create new impetuses for regional economic development.
At the plenary, ASEAN leaders approved several important documents, which are expected to contribute to strengthening intra-regional efforts to build an ASEAN Community that places people at its centre./.
