In 2025, ASEAN will adopt the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 along with four strategic plans on politics-security, economics, culture-society and connectivity to be implemented from 2026, promising to open up new aspirations with innovative thinking, strategic vision and digital, green and fast development momentum to continue to successfully carry out the mission for peace, security, cooperation and sustainable development.
Standing at the new historical starting point of the country, the beginning of a new journey of ASEAN, preparing for the 30-year milestone of Vietnam joining ASEAN, this is the time for all of us to look back and evaluate what ASEAN has done, is doing and will do, to determine the direction of our participation and contribution to the future of ASEAN, which is also a contribution to the future of each member country and to us.
ASEAN: solid foundation, strong connection, steady development
Born nearly 60 years ago in a region shrouded in instability, division and suspicion, ASEAN has gradually united, expanded and developed, bringing a new look to the region, nurturing trust that has grown over the years. After nearly three decades, ASEAN, from an organization with only 5 members, has now become the common home of all 10 Southeast Asian countries, opening a new era for regional solidarity and cooperation. The ASEAN Community was formed on December 31, 2015, marking a qualitative development of ASEAN, further consolidating the foundation of connectivity, affirming its indispensable role in peace, security, cooperation and development in the region. ASEAN's journey to reach its current stature and position has not always been "smooth sailing" but has contained many events and ups and downs. The more hardships and challenges ASEAN goes through, the more it is tempered to become more mature, promoting its mettle, confidence, self-reliance and strategic autonomy. This is clearly demonstrated through ASEAN's adaptability, response capacity and code of conduct:
Firstly, responding flexibly, promptly and sensitively to all changes in the regional and international situation. From global to regional hotspots, member countries share awareness and responsibility in strengthening solidarity and promoting ASEAN's common voice. With a consensus on the will to reach unity in behavior and action, ASEAN has clearly demonstrated its ability to "respond to all changes" on the basis of the "unchangeable" mission of maintaining a peaceful, secure, stable and cooperative environment for development in the region. Overcoming all challenges, the world has witnessed an ASEAN that has responded steadfastly, confidently and competently to international and regional issues, from the 5-point Consensus to support Myanmar in finding long-term and sustainable solutions, strengthening the principled stance and common voice on the East Sea issue, to maintaining a balanced and consistent approach to conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East or the Korean Peninsula.
Understanding and sharing the current situation in the Middle East, Europe and many other places, we are more aware of and appreciate the value of peace and stability in the region today. Peace is not something that comes naturally, but comes from the determination and united efforts of member countries, making every effort for peace, stability, cooperation and development.
Second, respond flexibly, proactively, promptly and effectively to non-traditional security challenges. A typical example is the story of COVID-19, the consequences of which are still lingering, but the experience and lessons in responding to the epidemic are still valuable and relevant in the current period. A series of initiatives implemented such as the COVID-19 Response Fund, the Regional Emergency Medical Supplies Reserve, the ASEAN Standard Disease Response Procedures, the ASEAN Travel Corridor Framework, and the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework are vivid evidence of ASEAN's spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance in the face of difficulties and ASEAN's proactiveness in responding to issues of a national, comprehensive, global and Community nature.
The synchronous implementation of the above initiatives has created a premise for ASEAN to mobilize resources for epidemic prevention with more than 900 million doses of vaccines and a large number of medical equipment and supplies. These initiatives also shape the framework for cooperation and coordination of actions among countries in controlling and preventing epidemics, contributing to ASEAN's impressive achievements in fighting the epidemic and economic recovery. The combination of ASEAN's efforts in responding to the epidemic along with many other emerging challenges such as climate change, natural disasters, resource depletion, and population aging clearly demonstrates the spirit of "Community thinking, acting together" of an ASEAN of mutual love, standing shoulder to shoulder, together overcoming difficulties and challenges.
Third, act resolutely, independently, and in balance in the face of increasingly fierce strategic competition. In the first decades of the 21st century, the world witnessed strong geopolitical shifts. Asia-Pacific continues to be a place where the strategic interests of all major countries converge and intersect; located at the center of this region, ASEAN attracts the attention, participation, and even involvement of major partners. Strategic competition and friction between major countries takes place directly in ASEAN mechanisms and forums, affecting the operation and effectiveness of cooperation.
In that context, ASEAN has promoted its steadfastness, consistent role of independence, proactiveness, and principled behavior in implementing relations with partners. Taking basic principles as guidelines such as the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, ASEAN has succeeded in harmonizing interests, reconciling differences, and harmonizing the concerns of countries when participating in cooperation in the region. ASEAN mechanisms such as ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3, and the East Asia Summit continue to affirm their strategic value in promoting dialogue, building trust, and enhancing cooperation, creating a solid foundation for shaping a multi-process, multi-layered, and multi-sectoral regional structure with ASEAN at the center.
Seize opportunities, overcome challenges, enhance connections
The world is undergoing complex and profound changes with opposing trends and intertwined positive and negative impacts. Overall, there is peace, but locally there is war; overall, there is reconciliation, but locally there is tension; overall, there is stability, but locally there is conflict. New growth drivers, especially science and technology, innovation, green transformation, and energy transformation, are creating epochal changes, fundamentally changing production methods and all aspects of social life. In such a volatile situation, ASEAN continues to emerge as a model of solidarity, a focus of growth, a bright spot of effort, and a typical example in adapting to new development trends.
With a growth forecast of 4.6% in 2024 and 4.8% in 2025, far exceeding the world average, ASEAN continues to record impressive economic development achievements, expected to become the world's 4th largest economy by 2030. Strengthening connectivity between economies, ASEAN accelerates the upgrading of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, basically completing negotiations to upgrade the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement version 3.0, implementing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP)... ASEAN's new cooperation frameworks on digital economy, circular economy, and blue economy show ASEAN's shift in thinking and action, not only proactively grasping new growth drivers, but also leading and shaping new cooperation contents in the region.
With the orientation of “putting people at the center of Community building efforts”, all ASEAN specialized agencies on education, labor, health, culture, etc. are deeply aware of the goal of building a Community that is people-oriented, serving the practical interests of the people, considering this the highest goal in policy planning and implementation. The cohesion, attachment and trust of the people are the catalysts for the stronger ties between countries, at the same time clearly reflecting the nature of ASEAN as a harmonious, humane and tolerant Community, for the equal and fair development of all, leaving no one behind.
On the road ahead with many opportunities and challenges ahead, the task for ASEAN is to maintain the achievements it has made, continue to enhance connectivity and cooperation in all three dimensions of scale, scope and quality. How can ASEAN maintain its independence and strategic autonomy? How can ASEAN break out to become the center of growth? How can ASEAN adapt better and better to external fluctuations? Fundamental issues need fundamental solutions; accordingly, ASEAN needs to handle the following relationships well:
Firstly, the dialectical relationship between “ASEAN’s strategic independence and autonomy” and “deeper integration into global processes”. Strategic independence and autonomy are the basis for ASEAN to firmly adhere to its goals and principles, promote its internal strength, enhance its self-reliance, affirm its role and position, and lay the foundation for ASEAN’s deeper participation in global agendas. In turn, ASEAN’s role and effective contribution to global processes will contribute to enhancing its potential, enhancing its capacity and mobilizing resources, helping ASEAN to strengthen its strategic independence and self-reliance, and always stand firm in the face of all fluctuations.
Second, the dialectical relationship between force, position and time. “Force” is the foundation of connection and the tradition of solidarity that ASEAN has worked hard to cultivate over the past 60 years. “Position” is the position and prestige that ASEAN has built on the basis of its “force”, clearly demonstrated through ASEAN’s increasingly proactive and active role and participation in regional and global issues as well as the attention and respect that partners have for ASEAN. “Time” is the major trends taking place today, especially the new growth drivers that ASEAN needs to grasp and effectively utilize. “Creating force, establishing position, competing for time” is the “art” of action for ASEAN in the current context, continuing to consolidate solidarity, promote dynamic vitality and create new momentum, to step firmly and reach a strong height.
Third, the dialectical relationship between economics, politics-security and culture-society. The ASEAN Community is built on a solid tripod, consisting of three pillars: economics, politics-security and culture-society, which support and are closely linked. Of which, economic development is the central task, political-security consolidation is essential and regular, and cultural-social cooperation is the spiritual foundation and endogenous resource. The harmonious, synchronous and thorough resolution of this relationship is extremely important for ASEAN's success. For any issue, ASEAN needs a comprehensive and holistic approach, with multidimensional thinking and multi-faceted perspectives, to thoroughly handle all aspects. To do that, strengthening institutional capacity is a prerequisite, in which special attention and appropriate investment are needed for inter-sectoral and inter-pillar coordination, ensuring smoothness and consistency.
Vietnam: Participating in ASEAN more proactively, flexibly, positively, responsibly, creatively and effectively
Nearly three decades of participating in ASEAN have demonstrated the great importance of ASEAN to Vietnam. Since becoming an ASEAN member in 1995, joining ASEAN has always been a strategic priority and top choice for Vietnam. ASEAN is a “strategic space” that contributes to creating a favorable situation, maintaining a peaceful, secure, stable and developing environment for the country. ASEAN is a “bridge” for us to expand cooperation, mobilize resources to support socio-economic development. ASEAN is a “fulcrum” for Vietnam to promote its role, enhance strategic value in relations with partners and confidently, self-reliantly participate and integrate in broader mechanisms and forums.
Joining ASEAN has brought Vietnam from a country devastated by war, siege, embargo, to gradually opening up and integrating, linking the country's development with the general development flow of ASEAN, the region and the world. The stages of Vietnam's participation in ASEAN have always accompanied the process of renewing the country's foreign policy thinking. Over time, we have grown stronger, more mature, and steadily participated in ASEAN cooperation in particular and international integration in general, with increasingly clear contributions. Today, talking about Vietnam means talking about a prestigious and responsible member of ASEAN and the international community, making every effort, cooperating sincerely, trustingly and contributing wholeheartedly.
Vietnam's outstanding contributions include promoting and spreading the fundamental values and principles of ASEAN, such as the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), the Treaty on the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ), the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and building an effective, substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. That is initiating and shaping ASEAN's strategic decisions, especially contributing to leading ASEAN to successfully overcome the COVID-19 pandemic in the year of ASEAN Chairmanship 2020, proactively orienting the development of the Community with the process of building the ASEAN Vision after 2025. That is, consolidating ASEAN's extensive economic network, actively participating in negotiations, reviewing, upgrading ASEAN's agreements and agreements and between ASEAN and its partners, affirming the role of ASEAN in the region and the world. ASEAN's leading role in the trend of trade liberalization based on rules. That is, to strengthen the identity of the ASEAN Community as the principle of consensus and unity in diversity; of the people, by the people and for the people with the approach of "taking the people as the center, subject, goal, driving force and resource" of the Community building process.
In the next development journey with new expectations for ASEAN, we need to be more aware of our responsibility to proactively participate and contribute more to the common work, with the motto of creativity in thinking, innovation in approach, flexibility in implementation, efficiency in working methods, and determination in action. To do so, from now on, Vietnam must identify, supplement, and develop new and specific contents with the spirit of "resources originating from thinking and vision; motivation originating from innovation and creativity; strength originating from people and businesses", and 6 more:
Firstly, we need to be more responsible in strengthening ASEAN solidarity, not only building consensus with other countries on the basis of reconciling differences, but also improving the quality of consensus on the basis of increasing the level of intertwining and cooperation to connect interests, towards gradually increasing the common denominator of interests of member countries.
Second, be more proactive in enhancing ASEAN's resilience. It is necessary to enhance ASEAN's response capacity to all challenges, from climate change, natural disasters, epidemics, resource depletion, population aging, to financial-economic risks, supply chain disruptions, and effective management of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, cyber security, and information security, to maintain internal strategic stability and timely policy responses to external fluctuations and shocks.
Third, be more creative by proposing initiatives and ideas that effectively serve the Community building process. In particular, it is necessary to focus on “connectivity” to create strategic breakthroughs, promote intra-bloc connectivity combined with external connectivity, public-private connectivity, and multi-sectoral connectivity, in which institutional, infrastructure, and human connectivity are strategic breakthroughs for ASEAN.
Fourth, be more proactive in maintaining the growth focus and unlocking new growth drivers. ASEAN needs to keep pace, catch up with, and surpass current trends, especially completing the roadmap and soon implementing the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement to optimize the potential and opportunities for the regional digital economy.
Fifth, make greater efforts to promote ASEAN’s participation and reach in larger spaces. With its rising position and power and increasingly valued role, ASEAN has sufficient basis and conditions to expand its influence both regionally and globally. The ASEAN Future Forum is our very timely initiative, contributing to regional cooperation and gradually bringing ASEAN into global processes, seeking solutions to contemporary issues.
Sixth, further promote regional institutional harmonization and global progress; in accordance with the culture and political institutions of ASEAN and each member. Institutional harmonization, strategic infrastructure connectivity, and linkages to improve the quality of human resources can be considered ASEAN's breakthroughs in the coming time.
The future belongs to those who prepare from today. Contributing to building a strong and prosperous future for ASEAN is also an important contribution to realizing the aspirations of more than 100 million Vietnamese people, bringing the country firmly into a new era, an era of the Vietnamese people's rise. On the new development journey of ASEAN, Vietnam is ready to further promote its role and responsibility towards the ASEAN Community, contribute more and more effectively to the integration process, promote the focus of growth and regional cooperation, for the common goal of peace, security, stability and sustainable development.
