Hanoi (VNA) – State President Luong Cuong’s upcoming trip to attend the 2025 APEC Economic Leaders' Week (AELW) and engage in bilateral activities in the Republic of Korea (RoK) holds great significance in various aspects, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang told the press ahead of the trip.
According to the official, the visit will take place from October 29 to November 1 at the invitation of Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
Over more than three decades of formation and development, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum has become a leading regional mechanism for cooperation and economic integration, comprising 21 member economies, including three of the world’s five largest economies, and accounting for 46% of global trade and 61% of global GDP. The 2025 AELW aims to maintain and strengthen the spirit of dialogue and cooperation, foster trade, investment, and economic connectivity, and sustain growth momentum, while responding to global challenges and shaping the region’s development future through science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.
Vietnam expects and believes that under the RoK’s chairmanship, APEC 2025 will yield positive outcomes that reaffirm APEC’s role as a driver of growth and economic integration, while promoting its pioneering position in the current era of technology and innovation, Hang stressed.
She said that, at this year’s AELW, Vietnam – one of the region’s fastest-growing economies, a country with a steadily rising international standing, and the host of APEC 2027 – will continue to make responsible contributions to promoting APEC cooperation and multilateralism, as well as joining collective efforts for peace, stability, and sustainable and prosperous development in the region and the world.
The President’s participation in APEC 2025 is a concrete step in implementing the foreign policy of the Party and State, especially the Politburo's Resolution No. 59-NQ/TW on international integration in the new context. It demonstrates Vietnam’s strategic shift from a mindset of “receiving” to one of “contributing,” from “integration” to “comprehensive, deep integration,” and from a “latecomer” economy to one that is proactively pioneering in emerging fields.
During the event, the Vietnamese leader will join other APEC leaders in discussing major issues of cooperation and development, agreeing on orientations to enhance trade, investment, connectivity, green transition, and digital transformation, and science and technology collaboration, among other critical fields.
He will also meet with leaders of other APEC member economies, and hold working sessions with top global corporations and business leaders, helping deepen Vietnam’s bilateral ties with key partners and mobilise resources to serve its socio-economic development goals.
A highlight of the trip will be President Cuong’s keynote address at the APEC CEO Summit, attended by nearly 2,000 regional business executives. He is expected to deliver a strong message on Vietnam’s potential, advantages, strategic policies and breakthroughs, thereby reinforcing international confidence in Vietnam’s new development trajectory and attracting financial and technological resources to support the nation’s innovation, green transition, and digital transformation.
Given that the RoK is one of Vietnam’s leading economic partners, and amid the strong development of Vietnam – RoK relations, the visit also provides an opportunity for the two sides to strengthen their political foundation, effectively implement high-level agreements, and make bilateral cooperation more substantive and result-oriented, contributing to each country’s development goals.
Hang expressed confidence that President Cuong’s visit will be a resounding success, further affirming the image of a self-reliant, confident, and proactive Vietnam that is entering a new era of development and making ever more responsible and effective contributions to regional and global peace, stability, cooperation, and prosperity./.
VNA
