To strengthen resilience, ASEAN should deepen integration, build reliable supply chains, bolster energy security, advance digital connectivity and enhance technological capacity, said Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
Amid growing geopolitical shifts that pose increasing challenges to intra-ASEAN consensus, Vietnam’s capacity to build workable common platforms has become more important than ever, particularly as Vietnam serves as a bridge among members at different levels of development and countries with differing strategic relationships with major powers, said Collins Chong Yew Keat, a foreign affairs, security and strategy analyst at the University of Malaya.
The ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) 2026's opening in Hanoi once again placed Vietnam at the centre of regional diplomacy, Malaysia-based Southeast Asian history and defence researcher Enzo Sim Hong Jun told Vietnam News Agency.