Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on May 26 joined other ASEAN leaders in the interfaces with ASEAN Youth and representatives from the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), on the sidelines of the 46th ASEAN Summit and related high-level meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In the ASEAN Leaders’ Interface with ASEAN Youth, themed “Youth for a Sustainable Future: Empowering Inclusion and Driving Change in ASEAN,” ASEAN youth delegates made policy recommendations to the region's leaders, reflecting their aspirations and sense of responsibility in shaping the future of the region. Their recommendations included enhancing access to digital skills and artificial intelligence education, improving physical and mental health for young people, supporting vulnerable groups, promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, encouraging climate action, and fostering ASEAN cultural diversity.
PM Chinh emphasised that youth are both beneficiaries and creators, leading ASEAN in the future. He called on ASEAN youth to promote the spirit of pioneering and creativity with “5 proactiveness”, including proactiveness in learning, proactiveness in innovation and entrepreneurship, proactiveness in institution building, proactiveness in international exchange and integration, and proactiveness in preserving peace, stability and ASEAN cultural identity.
In addition, he proposed ASEAN countries focus on building open education, supporting the development of science and technology and digital transformation, promoting entrepreneurship, creating a dialogue space to listen to the voices of youth and encouraging them to participate in environmental protection and sustainable development.
Vietnam is committed to accompanying ASEAN, and prioritising the comprehensive development of youth as a strategic resource, Chinh stated, believing that ASEAN's bright future will be written by a young generation who think big, act bold, and dare to pioneer for a cohesive and sustainable ASEAN.
In the ASEAN Leaders’ Interface with ASEAN-BAC representatives, themed "Unifying markets for shared prosperity", the council’s delegates proposed priority focuses including enhancing intra-bloc trade and investment, enhancing economic integration, building an inclusive and sustainable future, and building a digitally resilient ASEAN.
Welcoming and appreciating the highly feasible proposals of ASEAN-BAC, the Vietnamese Government leader expressed his hope that these initiatives will contribute to the realisation of an “Inclusive and Sustainable” ASEAN. Looking back on the 10-year journey of building the ASEAN Community, he emphasised that the business community is the pioneering force for innovation, promoting growth and enhancing regional economic connectivity; and expected ASEAN-BAC to continue to be a strong voice of the private economic sector to promote the improvement of the regional business environment, enhance supply chain connectivity, digital transformation, and green transition, contributing to realising the ASEAN Community Vision 2045.
To promote extensive economic cooperation in the coming time, PM Chinh suggested Governments and the business community renew traditional growth drivers, both in intra-bloc trade and investment and with external partners, strongly promote new growth drivers, especially in science and technology, innovation and digital transformation, strengthen regional and global supply chain connectivity, ensure ASEAN's strategic economic autonomy, develop high-quality human resources, meet the requirements of the labour market in the new era on the basis of strengthening cooperation between states, businesses and schools.
The Vietnamese Government commits to creating “open institutions, smooth infrastructure, and smart governance” to work with Governments and businesses of member countries to turn ASEAN into a dynamic, self-reliant, inclusive, and sustainable economic entity that is ready to adapt to all global fluctuations, he added./.
