 |
| Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son attended the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Malaysia in January 2025. (Source: VGP) |
Could the Ambassador tell us about the significance and key contents of the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM 58) and the participation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son?
The 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM 58) and related meetings will take place from July 8-11 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with the participation of ASEAN Foreign Ministers and partner countries such as the US, China, South Korea, Japan, Russia... Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son will lead the Vietnamese delegation to attend the series of meetings.
 |
| Ambassador, Head of the Permanent Representative Mission of Vietnam to ASEAN Ton Thi Ngoc Huong at a meeting at the ASEAN Secretariat. (Photo: Delegation) |
AMM 58 took place shortly after the 46th ASEAN Summit - a significant conference, marking a new stage of development for ASEAN when ASEAN Leaders adopted the "Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2045: Our Common Future" and the "ASEAN Community Vision 2045" document, which plays a role in guiding long-term cooperation for ASEAN for the next 20 years, with the goal of building a strong, self-reliant, creative, dynamic, people-centered and future-oriented ASEAN Community.
At this Conference, ASEAN Foreign Ministers will focus on discussing the implementation of the decisions of ASEAN Leaders at the 46th ASEAN Summit, promptly putting ASEAN's strategic frameworks, specifically the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and strategic plans, into effective implementation; making efforts to complete initiatives to promote intra-bloc cooperation such as the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, the ASEAN Power Grid, carbon neutrality, etc. to take advantage of new growth drivers; continuing to expand ASEAN's cooperation space through early preparation for Timor Leste to become an official member of ASEAN; expanding ASEAN's strategic space and economic cooperation space through signing the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement Protocol version 3.0 and promoting FTA negotiations with India (AIFTA) and Canada (ACaFTA).
In addition, in the context of the rapidly changing and unpredictable world economic and political situation, increasingly fierce competition between major powers, strongly affecting the region and ASEAN, the focus throughout is to continue to improve the effectiveness of ASEAN-led mechanisms, consolidate and promote ASEAN's central role in handling regional issues and challenges, including Myanmar and the East Sea; further strengthen and consolidate relations with partners to respond to common challenges.
Attending the 58th AMM and a series of related conferences, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son will continue to affirm Vietnam's support for Malaysia in its ASEAN Chairmanship year with the theme "Inclusive and Sustainable", proposing specific initiatives of Vietnam to jointly create a stable and sustainable development future for the region and ASEAN, ensuring an independent and autonomous strategic space, consolidating the central role, enhancing the capacity to adapt to external fluctuations and seeking stronger and more effective solutions to the issues facing the Association.
On this occasion, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister will also co-chair the ASEAN-New Zealand Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the ASEAN-UK Foreign Ministers' Meeting, two partner countries that Vietnam is coordinating in relations with ASEAN.
Dear Ambassador, through taking on rotating positions in ASEAN, how has Vietnam contributed to ASEAN's common work?
Vietnam is currently coordinating ASEAN-New Zealand relations and ASEAN-UK relations (2024-2027). 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN-New Zealand partnership. As the coordinating country, Vietnam will chair negotiations and consider the proposal to establish the ASEAN-New Zealand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), draft a Joint Vision Statement for adoption at the ASEAN-New Zealand 50th Anniversary Summit in late 2025, and develop and adopt the ASEAN-New Zealand Action Plan for the new period (2026-2030).
Coordinating ASEAN-UK relations, Vietnam takes the lead in promoting the implementation of the ASEAN-UK Action Plan (2022-2026), concretizing the ASEAN-UK Ministerial Statement on Connectivity Cooperation (2024), actively preparing to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the ASEAN-UK partnership (2026) and building a new Action Plan for the 2027-2031 period.
In addition, in 2025, Vietnam will also chair the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Working Group, right at the time of the 25th anniversary of IAI, focusing on completing the 4th Work Plan (2021-2025), developing the 5th Work Plan (2026-2030) and promoting the organization of commemorative activities.
 |
| Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son speaks at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Malaysia in January 2025. (Photo: Quang Hoa) |
Through taking on rotating positions in the Association, Vietnam has been making very active and effective contributions to the common work of ASEAN. Coordinating ASEAN relations with New Zealand and the UK has contributed to consolidating and deepening ASEAN's relations with partners, further consolidating partners' support for ASEAN's central role, ASEAN-led mechanisms as well as increasing partners' resource support for ASEAN, especially in implementing Community building and narrowing the development gap.
As the chair of the IAI group, Vietnam has actively mobilized partners to support the early completion of the current Work Plan and the development of a new phase Work Plan with a new approach to implementation. The 25th anniversary of the IAI initiative is an important time to review and draw lessons from the development and implementation of the new Work Plan, especially when Timor Leste has officially become a beneficiary country in IAI projects and is preparing to become an official member of ASEAN. Promoting regional integration and narrowing the development gap within ASEAN continues to be an important issue for ASEAN in the new development phase.
How does the Ambassador feel about the atmosphere in ASEAN in the face of development goals and new thresholds of the era? How has Vietnam integrated into that atmosphere?
2025 is a year of special significance for ASEAN as the Association completes the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and moves into a new phase of development, with the adoption of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and Strategic Plans across pillars and sectors.
The current atmosphere in ASEAN is very positive with many expectations. Orienting the long-term development of ASEAN's goals, creating a strong new driving force for building ASEAN into a stronger Community, more adaptable, self-reliant, creative, and dynamic, bringing greater benefits to the people of member countries.
2025 marks the 30th anniversary of Vietnam joining ASEAN. In the new era, Vietnam strives to become a modern industrialized country by 2045, together with ASEAN, towards ambitious goals.
At this important moment, Vietnam is more aware of the responsibilities and interests of a member state, proactive and ready to shoulder greater responsibilities in ASEAN's new journey, together with ASEAN to create a new development mindset based on inclusiveness and sustainability, contributing to strongly promoting the spirit of "5 more": More Solidarity, More Self-reliance, More Proactiveness, More Inclusiveness and More Sustainability - the message that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh gave at the recent 46th ASEAN Summit.
Thank you very much Ambassador!
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/deputy-prime-minister-bui-thanh-son-du-hoi-nghi-bo-truong-ngoai-giao-asean-cung-khoi-dong-khuon-kho-chien-luoc-moi-thuc-day-sang-kien-vi-tuong-lai-319769.html
Comment (0)