Moscow (VNA) – The ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) 2026 reflects Vietnam’s increasingly active role in shaping ASEAN’s development agenda by fostering dialogue, promoting new ideas and encouraging collective responses to regional and global challenges, according to a Russian scholar.
Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency in Moscow, Assoc. Prof. Ekaterina Koldunova, Acting Director of the ASEAN Centre at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), said the forum has emerged as a prominent platform for discussing Asia’s most pressing issues within a wider international and geopolitical framework.
She noted that AFF 2026 features a broad agenda spanning energy security, technological innovation and artificial intelligence, as well as cross-border payments, smart city development, regional cooperation, relations with major powers and the adaptability of regional institutions in a rapidly changing environment.
Among the topics under discussion, energy security stands out as particularly relevant, reflecting ASEAN’s commitment to addressing one of the most urgent challenges facing the global community today, Koldunova said.
The scholar stressed that the forum’s significance lies less in formal outcomes than in its ability to bring together experts, policymakers and officials to exchange views and generate ideas that can later inform practical policy decisions.
According to Koldunova, Vietnam’s continued hosting of AFF highlights its growing influence in shaping conversations on ASEAN’s future. She noted that the country is increasingly recognised internationally for its ambitious development agenda, especially in innovation and digital transformation.
By actively promoting platforms such as AFF, Vietnam is helping raise awareness of its initiatives and contributions to ASEAN while reinforcing its role as a constructive stakeholder in broader international cooperation, she added.
Koldunova also described Vietnam’s commitment to maintaining the forum beyond its ASEAN chairmanship years as evidence of a consistent, forward-looking approach to supporting the bloc’s long-term development and regional integration goals.
She further noted that the Russia–ASEAN Forum commemorating 35 years of dialogue relations will be held in Kazan shortly after AFF 2026, with many participants expected to attend both events.
The continuity between the two forums could help sustain discussions launched in Hanoi and inject fresh momentum into ASEAN–Russia cooperation and regional development efforts, she said.
Since its launch in 2024, AFF has steadily strengthened its standing as an open and future-oriented platform, attracting strong support from ASEAN member states and international partners. Several recommendations and policy ideas generated at previous editions have subsequently been reflected in ASEAN Summit outcomes and documents./.
