With a series of breakthrough outcomes, General Secretary and President To Lam’s visits to Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines marked significant milestones, elevating relations between Viet Nam and the three ASEAN member states to new heights. These visits have opened a new chapter of substantive and effective cooperation in a new era of development, contributing significantly to peace, stability, and prosperity across the region.
From the natural bonds created by geographical proximity and cultural similarities to the comprehensive strategic partnership, the friendship and close cooperation between Viet Nam and Thailand have demonstrated enduring vitality over time. General Secretary and President To Lam’s official visit to Thailand continued this successful tradition of strong cooperation.
During meetings and talks with Thai leaders, especially King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, General Secretary and President To Lam emphasised that, despite numerous global geopolitical and economic challenges, Thailand and Viet Nam have maintained stability and development, affirming their increasingly important roles and positions in the region and the world.
The Viet Nam - Thailand Business Forum 2026 was a major highlight of the visit, reflecting the determination to deepen and enhance the effectiveness of the Viet Nam - Thailand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
General Secretary and President To Lam stressed that Viet Nam and Thailand are two important ASEAN economies with a strong friendship, deepening political trust, and increasingly intertwined development interests.
Viet Nam and Thailand need to move beyond traditional bilateral cooperation thinking and jointly create a complementary economic space in which the two countries do not compete by acting separately but instead elevate each other’s position within ASEAN value chains, strengthen ASEAN’s resilience, and contribute together to the region’s sustainable growth.
As part of the visit to Thailand, General Secretary and President To Lam offered incense and flowers in tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at the Ho Chi Minh Memorial Site and visited the historical site in Udon Thani Province where President Ho Chi Minh once lived and carried out revolutionary activities.
The General Secretary and President affirmed that the legacy left by President Ho Chi Minh is a source of pride for the Vietnamese community in Thailand and a precious spiritual asset of the nation, reminding present and future generations of patriotism, the spirit of independence, and lifelong dedication to the Motherland.
The dedication of the Vietnamese community in Thailand towards preserving and enhancing the memorial site is vivid evidence of the enduring vitality of Vietnamese culture, national pride and the deep affection of overseas Vietnamese for their homeland.
With a series of breakthrough outcomes, General Secretary and President To Lam’s visits to Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines have marked significant milestones, elevating relations between Viet Nam and the three ASEAN member states to new heights.
A key highlight of General Secretary and President To Lam’s state visit to Singapore was the strengthening of party-to-party cooperation between the Communist Party of Viet Nam and Singapore’s People's Action Party (PAP).
During talks between General Secretary and President To Lam and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, the two leaders agreed to establish a strategic dialogue mechanism between the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the People's Action Party of Singapore.
The establishment of a dialogue mechanism between the two ruling parties marks a historic milestone in bilateral relations, further enhancing political trust and laying a solid foundation for increasingly substantive, effective, and in-depth cooperation.
The visit also opened opportunities for science and technology cooperation to become a major pillar of Viet Nam–Singapore relations in the coming years. Speaking at the Viet Nam–Singapore Technology Connectivity Forum, General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed that the world is entering a period of profound transformation, where science, technology, and innovation are not only drivers of growth but are becoming decisive factors in national competitiveness and economic standing within global value chains.
In this field, the economies of Viet Nam and Singapore have clear strategic complementarities, creating opportunities for the two countries to develop a strategic science and technology ecosystem and jointly produce technological products and solutions with regional and international value.
General Secretary and President To Lam’s keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue attracted significant attention from regional and international audiences. Under the theme “Proactively Shaping Peace, Stability and Development in a Volatile World”, the speech provided a profound overview of the three fundamental crises facing the world today: the crisis of the international order, the crisis of development models, and the crisis of strategic trust. It also proposed directions for jointly building a peaceful, stable, developed, and resilient Asia-Pacific region capable of mitigating risks early and from afar.
Many international experts observed that the directions outlined by General Secretary and President To Lam at the Shangri-La Dialogue reflect the vision of an outstanding leader and make an important contribution to building a sustainable regional security architecture and a peaceful, stable, developed, and resilient Asia-Pacific region capable of mitigating risks at an early stage.
Through this, Viet Nam continues to affirm its increasingly important voice in addressing global geopolitical challenges and positions itself as an active contributor to peace and stability in an increasingly volatile and unpredictable world.
The state visit to the Philippines by General Secretary and President To Lam achieved results of profound strategic significance. Based on political trust, traditional friendship and increasingly extensive cooperation needs, Viet Nam and the Philippines agreed to upgrade their relationship to an enhanced strategic partnership. This is a major milestone in bilateral relations, opening a new chapter of more comprehensive, substantive, and effective cooperation.
Within the framework of the Viet Nam–Philippines Enhanced Strategic Partnership, General Secretary and President To Lam and Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. reaffirmed the enduring friendship and close cooperation between the two countries, which is built on mutual respect and a strong commitment to multilateralism and international cooperation. They also emphasised the importance of complying with international law and upholding the principles and obligations enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the ASEAN Charter.
During talks between General Secretary and President To Lam and President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., the two leaders agreed to coordinate in developing an action programme to implement the new partnership framework in the coming period, strengthen political trust, and consolidate a solid strategic foundation for bilateral relations.
General Secretary and President To Lam and the Philippine President also agreed on major directions to create breakthroughs in bilateral economic cooperation, aiming to raise bilateral trade turnover to 10 billion USD in the near future.
By establishing a new stature and creating breakthrough advances in Viet Nam’s relations with its ASEAN partners - Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines - the working trip of General Secretary and President To Lam, his spouse, and the high-level Vietnamese delegation demonstrated a strong determination to transform relationships rooted in historical depth into close cooperation and strategic connectivity in the new era. These dynamic and effective relationships will serve as a foundation for ASEAN to strengthen its collective strength, solidarity, and confidence on the path towards development.
