Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said after more than half a century of formation and development, ASEAN has never been in such a good position as well as facing as many challenges as it does today.
He stressed that ASEAN needs to be dynamically adaptive and strengthen its self-reliance to assert its strategic value. ASEAN also needs to consolidate unity and solidarity, elevate the spirit of independence and self-reliance while strongly upholding its central role, maintaining a balanced strategic relationship with partners, establish and promote a culture of dialogue, cooperation, consultation and trust building.
On regional and global issues, Prime Minister Chinh shared his views on the increasingly intense strategic competition among major powers, affirming that it is of utmost importance that ASEAN member countries stay united, uphold a sense of responsibility and collective spirit towards common goals, and harmonise national interests with those of the bloc.
ASEAN needs to maintain its principled stance on issues directly related to environment, security and development, as stated in foundational documents such as the ASEAN Charter, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, especially by raising the banner of upholding international law, he said.
The session concluded the activities of the 42nd ASEAN Summit.
After three days of meetings from May 8-11, leaders to the Summit approved 10 documents in all three key pillars of political security, economy, and socioculture.
The attendance of the Vietnamese delegation at the event, led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, demonstrated Vietnam's active, positive and responsible contributions to the ASEAN, the building of the ASEAN Community and intra-bloc solidarity, as well as the settlement of challenges and maintenance of ASEAN standpoints on international and regional issues./.
