Leaders of ASEAN member states and Timor-Leste at the opening session.

Welcoming ASEAN leaders and delegates to Vientiane for the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and related meetings, Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone expressed Laos' pride in assuming the ASEAN chairmanship for the third time.

With the theme of cooperation in 2024 "ASEAN: Promoting Connectivity and Resilience," Laos, together with other ASEAN countries, has implemented nine priorities, achieving many positive results across all three pillars, especially in the development of strategies to implement the ASEAN Community Vision 2045. Amidst complex and unpredictable changes, ASEAN, like other regions in the world, faces numerous challenges such as conflict, economic instability, financial risks, climate change, and natural disasters.

Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone delivered a welcoming speech to ASEAN leaders and delegates arriving in Vientiane to attend the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and related meetings.

In this context, ASEAN needs to maintain its resolve, enhance its self-reliance, and continue its efforts to strengthen cooperation in order to seize opportunities and effectively respond to challenges. Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone believes that, with the spirit of cooperation, trust, and mutual support among member states, ASEAN will continue to achieve new successes. This ASEAN Summit is an opportunity for all countries to assess the results of community building and to set directions for development and cooperation, further strengthen relations with partners, consolidate the foundation for the sustainable development of the ASEAN Community, and contribute to the goals of peace, security, and stability.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith expressed his appreciation for the valuable assistance and support from ASEAN family members, friendly countries and partners given to Laos during all three times it has held the ASEAN chairmanship since joining ASEAN in 1997.

Throughout its development, ASEAN, a regional organization characterized by its inherent diversity, has overcome numerous challenges, marking a milestone in its development with the formation of the Community in 2015. ASEAN is now home to over 700 million people, is the third largest economy in Asia and the fifth largest in the world, and is projected to reach the fourth largest globally by 2030.

ASEAN's achievements over the past decades have brought immense benefits to its people, realizing the region's shared aspirations and desires, and strengthening solidarity and unity in diversity. These results also demonstrate the success of the ASEAN Way, leveraging the region's unique identity and characteristics to successfully achieve the goals of peace, stability, and sustainable socio-economic development.

Lao Party General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith delivered a speech at the opening ceremony.

Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing and complex regional and international environment with many new challenges, ASEAN must continue to fulfill its mission, striving for peace, stability, and sustainable development, and strongly committed to promoting multilateralism on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. ASEAN needs to strengthen cooperation in accordance with the ASEAN Way, promote self-reliance, consolidate solidarity and unity, and maintain its central role in relations with partners.

The President of Laos also emphasized that with Timor-Leste becoming a full member in the near future, ASEAN will bring together all Southeast Asian countries, strongly affirming the diversity and immense potential of the region, and opening up new opportunities for cooperation with partners.

Affirming that ASEAN is a crucial pillar in Laos' foreign policy of "peace, independence, friendship, and cooperation," Chairman Thongloun Sisoulith emphasized that Laos fulfills its commitments and obligations with a high sense of responsibility for the common good of ASEAN. With the theme "ASEAN: Promoting Connectivity and Resilience," Laos' priorities and initiatives during its chairmanship year contribute to the common goal of building a more connected and resilient ASEAN Community. This also reflects the desire and efforts to transform Laos from a landlocked country into a regional and international connectivity hub.

Leaders of ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste attend the plenary session of the ASEAN Summit.

Immediately after the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, along with leaders of ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste, attended the plenary session of the ASEAN Summit, discussing cooperation within ASEAN and between ASEAN and its partners.

According to the ASEAN Secretary-General's report, ASEAN cooperation over the past year continued to make significant progress, despite difficulties and challenges both within and outside the region. The ASEAN Community Building Master Plans 2025 entered their final implementation phase, recording high implementation rates across all three pillars, particularly political-security, which reached 99.6%.

ASEAN maintains positive economic growth momentum, remaining an attractive investment destination with total foreign direct investment reaching US$230 billion in 2023, ranking second only to the United States. Frameworks such as the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework, the Blue Economy Framework, and the Circular Economy Framework provide a foundation for ASEAN to quickly catch up with new development trends, creating impetus for quality and sustainable growth in the future.

The countries congratulated the Lao Chair on the positive results achieved in 2024 under the theme "ASEAN: Promoting Connectivity and Resilience," and highly appreciated the initiatives and priorities implemented across all three pillars of the Community. Notable among these were the development of strategies to implement the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, cooperation to strengthen supply chain connectivity, restructuring strategies to narrow the development gap, enhancing health resilience, climate resilience, and strengthening the role and participation of women and children. The countries agreed on the need to further concretize and deepen the content of connectivity and resilience in cooperation strategies for the new phase, enhancing ASEAN's adaptability to the profound and complex changes currently taking place.

Welcoming the new developments in cooperation between ASEAN and its partners, the countries agreed on the need to maintain ASEAN's strategic balance in the implementation of its external relations, and continued to urge partners to respect ASEAN's central role, work with ASEAN to promote the values ​​of dialogue, cooperation and trust, uphold the rule of law, and make constructive and responsible contributions to peace, security and stability.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh delivered a speech at the Conference.

Speaking at the Conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his gratitude for the condolences and support from ASEAN countries in overcoming the consequences of Super Typhoon Yagi in various countries, including Vietnam. The Prime Minister emphasized that solidarity and mutual assistance, "one for all, and all for one," continue to be core values ​​and the source of strength for ASEAN.

In the context of an increasingly volatile world, the Prime Minister noted that overall there is peace, but localized conflicts exist; overall there is détente, but localized tensions persist; overall there is stability, but localized conflicts remain. Amidst these challenges, ASEAN continues to be a bright spot in the global economy, a bridge for dialogue and cooperation, and a focal point of regional integration and linkages. Frameworks for the digital economy, blue economy, circular economy, etc., are gradually shaping new cooperation in the region.

Expressing agreement with the ASEAN 2024 theme of "Promoting Connectivity and Resilience," the Prime Minister suggested that now more than ever, ASEAN needs to take resilience as the foundation for growth, connectivity as the focus for breakthroughs, and innovation as the driving force for pioneering leadership.

Based on that, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh shared important directions for ASEAN in the coming period.

First,Strategic self-reliance and autonomy are the foundation for ASEAN's resilience in the face of change and the overcoming of all challenges. Accordingly, ASEAN needs to strengthen unity in diversity, steadfastly uphold norms of conduct, and persistently maintain ASEAN's principled stance on international and regional issues. ASEAN needs to enhance its self-reliance capacity and leverage its endogenous resources to maintain internal strategic stability and respond strategically to external risks in a timely manner. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that Timor Leste's early membership will further strengthen ASEAN and the region's self-reliance.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also emphasized that ASEAN needs to maintain its central, independent, balanced role and act in a principled manner in implementing its foreign relations, expanding and diversifying relations with partners on the basis of ensuring effectiveness, substance, and mutual benefit.

Secondly,Promoting internal connectivity combined with external connectivity, public-private partnerships, and multi-sectoral connectivity, with a focus on infrastructure, institutional, and human connectivity, is a strategic breakthrough for ASEAN. Accordingly, ASEAN needs to promote investment in high-quality infrastructure projects, especially strategic "hard" and "soft" infrastructure, and encourage the participation and cooperation of third parties and external partners. ASEAN needs to promote institutional harmonization, facilitating trade in goods, services, and investment. ASEAN needs to promote people-to-people connectivity and exchanges, further facilitating the movement of people, businesses, and workers.

Third,Innovation is the main driving force for ASEAN to catch up, keep pace with, and surpass the region and the world. Accordingly, ASEAN needs to strengthen cooperation in developing an innovation ecosystem, developing regional digital cooperation frameworks, and simultaneously developing governance criteria for emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence. ASEAN needs to promote the human factor as the central element, subject, goal, resource, and driving force of innovation, paying attention to strengthening cooperation in education and training high-quality human resources to meet the demands of the new era.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that ASEAN is preparing for a new phase of development with new thinking, a new vision, new momentum, and a new mindset. Wishing to contribute even more to regional cooperation, the Prime Minister announced that Vietnam will continue to host the ASEAN Future Forum in 2025 and looks forward to continued interest and support from other countries in successfully organizing this event.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed Vietnam's support and close cooperation with Malaysia in its role as ASEAN Chair in 2025 to continue achieving new successes, marking the 10th anniversary of the formation of the ASEAN Community.

Source: dangcongsan.vn