ASEAN

At ASED 14, the ASEAN Education Work Plan 2026–2030 was launched, setting out the region’s shared priorities for building inclusive, comprehensive and transformative education systems. The plan focuses on nurturing resilient and well-rounded individuals, developing a highly skilled and competitive workforce, and strengthening a common ASEAN identity rooted in shared values.

In its capacity as co-chair in 2025, Viet Nam worked closely with the RoK and the Mekong countries to maintain high-level exchanges, enhance the effectiveness of the Mekong–RoK Business Forum, organise the Mekong–RoK Forum for the first time to share project outcomes and implementation experience, and promote innovative solutions in water resource management through the third Mekong–RoK Water Forum.

Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability and upholding international law and commonly accepted norms of conduct across all regions, including the East Sea/South China Sea.

Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung affirmed that ASEAN would continue working with China to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea/South China Sea (DOC) and to conclude at an early date a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) that is consistent with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Looking ahead, Viet Nam proposed the two sides prioritise stronger regional resilience by scaling up energy cooperation, pooling financial resources and cracking down on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, all aimed at building a resilient and sustainable blue economy.

The Vietnamese minister underscored ASEAN+3's role as a strategic platform for deepening regional economic integration, strengthening resilience and helping build a peaceful and prosperous future for the region.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung proposed that ASEAN–UK cooperation shift its focus from growth to enhancing resilience, self-reliance and innovation on the basis of increasingly strengthened mutual trust.

The Vietnamese delegation proposed making energy security and transition a pillar of ASEAN-Canada relations, and urged Canada to support the implementation of the ASEAN Power Grid and expand cooperation in renewable energy, hydrogen, energy storage and nuclear power for civilian purposes.

Viet Nam has shared its experience and reaffirmed its commitment to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping at the 22nd ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) Experts' Working Group (EWG) on Peacekeeping Operations, with a strong focus on advancing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.

Viet Nam highly values UNODC’s support for ASEAN and the region and calls on the organisation to continue prioritising capacity-building programmes, technical assistance, and the effective implementation of international legal instruments against transnational crime, Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Vu Le Thai Hoang has said.

In a message delivered to the ASEAN-Russia Business Forum, held in the city of Kazan on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit, Putin said the sides have accumulated substantial experience in multifaceted cooperation, built strong partnerships, and laid a solid foundation for further expanding cooperation.

Ahead of the ASEAN-Russia Summit, scheduled to take place in Kazan, Russia, from June 17 to 19, Nhan Dan Newspaper’s resident correspondent in Russia spoke with Professor Dmitry Mosyakov, Doctor of Historical Sciences and Head of the Centre for the Study of Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania under the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, about the significance of the summit.

The third ASEAN Future Forum (AFF), held in Ha Noi from June 9 to 10, provided an open and substantive platform for dialogue on ASEAN’s future. The initiatives and solutions put forward in Ha Noi are expected to serve as a springboard for member states to achieve new successes in realising the Association’s aspirations for greater prominence and development.

The ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) 2026 continued on June 10 with three discussion sessions focusing on ASEAN–US cooperation, solutions to ensure energy security and accelerate the green transition in the region, and the identification of new development models amid global transformation.

Domestic and foreign policymakers, scholars and experts gathered for the third ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) 2026 in Ha Noi on June 9, when three plenary sessions and one panel discussion put the bloc’s resilience and unity under debate.

The measure of success in the coming period should not simply be how many additional documents, mechanisms or action plans ASEAN produces; more importantly, it should be measured by the extent to which ASEAN’s commitments are implemented in practice, what changes they bring about for the region, and what benefits they deliver to people, businesses and each member economy, said the top Vietnamese leader.

NA Chairman Man praised the initiative to convene the ASEAN City Leaders Conference, describing it as a significant step in recognising the increasingly important role of cities in building the ASEAN community.

Canadian Ambassador to Viet Nam Jim Nickel emphasised that this year’s theme – “Shaping Our Future Together: Peace, Prosperity and People-Centred” – demonstrates ASEAN’s potential to contribute to not only regional but also global peace.

Against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving, increasingly complex and unpredictable regional and global environment, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam stressed that ASEAN’s foremost priority is to preserve a peaceful and stable environment conducive to development, strengthen economic competitiveness and resilience, and improve the well-being of its people.

The ASEAN Future Forum 2026 carries special significance. Its theme not only reflects the core values that define ASEAN, but also points to the direction our Association should take in the years ahead.