In a speech delivered to the plenary session of the 28th ASEAN Summit, which opened in Vientiane, Laos, on September 6, the PM urged ASEAN member states to strengthen consultations and raise a common voice on regional issues directly impacting regional security and development, as well as to develop their relationships with partners and the regional architecture.
He asked them to identify priorities in the implementation of ASEAN’s Vision 2025 and action plans for each pillar.
On the political and security pillar, ASEAN needs to promote trust-building activities, preventive diplomatic measures, ASEAN’s code of conduct and adherence to the law (especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), contributing to maintaining peace and security by working closely together to prevent conflict in the region and cope with non-traditional security challenges, particularly from terrorism and in the field of cybersecurity.
In the field of economics, priority should be given to facilitating trade, improving the business and investment climate, developing small- and medium-sized enterprises in the added value and technological sectors, increasing coordination in macro-economic supervision and financial and monetary stability, he said.
The Government leader called for intensifying cultural and people-to-people exchanges, personnel training, environmental protection, climate change response and disaster control.
On bolstering connectivity and narrowing the development gap, he suggested developing road and railway networks and improving maritime and aviation capabilities, as well as further integrating Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
In light of the fiftieth founding anniversary of ASEAN next year, the PM said Vietnam vowed to take practical and effective actions and to do more for the bloc.
At the session, ASEAN leaders stressed the need to retain unity and improve the efficiency of operating mechanisms to bring practical benefits to the bloc’s people.
Later, they held dialogues with representatives from the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Council, the ASEAN Youth Organisation and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council.
In the afternoon on the same day, leaders attended ceremonies to sign the ASEAN Declaration on ‘One ASEAN, One Response,’ ‘ASEAN Responding to Disasters as One in the Region and Outside the Region,’ to adopt the Master Plan on 2025 ASEAN Connectivity and the third phase of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration Work Plan, and to debut the “Visit ASEAN@50” campaign logo.
Participants are due to attend the 29th ASEAN Summit, the ASEAN+1 Summit with China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and the United Nations, the ASEAN+3 Summit and the Mekong–Japan Summit on September 7.
