Vision for ASEAN’s future and Timor-Leste membership

On the morning of May 26, in Malaysia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh led the Vietnamese high-level delegation to attend the plenary session of the 46th ASEAN Summit. The meeting was chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving as the 2025 ASEAN Chair, with the participation of leaders from ASEAN member states, Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, and the ASEAN Secretary-General.

ASEAN countries affirmed that the organization is a bright spot of global growth, with its central role, position and prestige increasingly elevated. (Photo: VGP)

During the session, ASEAN leaders extended their condolences over the passing of former Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong, recognizing his significant contributions to Vietnam’s renovation, development, and regional and international integration.

The leaders expressed support for the summit’s timely and relevant theme, “Inclusive and Sustainable,” underlining ASEAN’s pressing need to foster equitable development, resilience, solidarity, and effective responses to shared challenges such as climate change, energy security, transnational crime, and natural disasters.

They reaffirmed ASEAN’s position as a global growth bright spot, with a projected growth rate of 4.8% in 2024 and 4.7% in 2025, highlighting the bloc’s expanding intra-regional and external cooperation, as well as its increasingly consolidated central role, status, and reputation.

To sustain its achievements amid global uncertainties, ASEAN must fully tap into its internal potential, uphold a rules-based multilateral trading system, effectively utilize existing free trade agreements, deepen integration and connectivity, and proactively shape the region’s future through frameworks and initiatives such as the ASEAN Power Grid and the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement.

Building on that spirit, ASEAN leaders adopted the document “ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future”, which includes the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and strategic orientations across political-security, economic, socio-cultural, and connectivity pillars—laying the strategic foundation for ASEAN’s cooperation and integration over the coming decades.

Leaders agreed that implementing the 2045 strategies must go beyond political declarations. It requires concrete action plans, appropriate resources, effective mechanisms for implementation and monitoring, and the engagement of all sectors of society. The ASEAN Community Vision 2045 must also be mainstreamed into national development plans to ensure consistency and coherence.

ASEAN leaders reached consensus on admitting Timor-Leste as the 11th ASEAN member at the 47th ASEAN Summit scheduled for October 2025 and tasked ministers and senior officials with finalizing its accession documents.

Three Strategic Priorities for ASEAN Cooperation

In his address, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh thanked the ASEAN leaders for their heartfelt condolences on the passing of former President Tran Duc Luong.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh believes that ASEAN will overcome all fluctuations and move forward strongly. (Photo: VGP)

Supporting the overarching theme of “Inclusive and Sustainable,” Prime Minister Chinh expressed confidence in Malaysia’s leadership as ASEAN Chair and commended the bloc’s timely coordination in addressing shared challenges.

The Prime Minister emphasized that in the time ahead, ASEAN must vigorously advance what he called the “Five Enhancements.” These include greater solidarity to forge collective strength, stronger resilience to safeguard regional autonomy and destiny, enhanced proactiveness to shape the evolving regional landscape, deeper inclusiveness to ensure ASEAN remains a common home for all members, and reinforced sustainability to secure a better future for the next generation. He also reaffirmed Vietnam’s support for the adoption of the “ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future” document package.

To realize these enhancements, the Prime Minister proposed three key priorities for ASEAN cooperation.

Firstly, ASEAN must reshape its development mindset by anchoring its approach on inclusivity, driving progress through innovation, and pursuing sustainability as a strategic goal. He suggested that sustainability should become a core evaluation criterion for ASEAN’s 2045 strategic initiatives, built upon the pillars of a green economy, inclusive society, and smart governance. He also underscored the importance of mobilizing both public and private sector resources to drive digital transformation, scientific advancement, and innovation, thereby creating regional-scale initiatives that inspire broader participation from ASEAN’s partners.

Secondly, ASEAN should reinforce its role as a connector and expand its linkages beyond the region by diversifying products, markets, and supply chains. The Prime Minister welcomed the replication of formats such as the ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and the ASEAN-GCC-China Economic Summit to include other potential partners, including the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and the Pacific Alliance. He emphasized that ASEAN must maintain a strong collective voice in support of free, fair, and inclusive trade and uphold multilateralism. He expressed his belief that the official membership of Timor-Leste would further contribute to ASEAN’s resilience, inclusiveness, and sustainable growth.

Thirdly, the Prime Minister called for safeguarding ASEAN’s central role and enhancing the region’s resilience. He noted that ASEAN’s success hinges on its ability to maintain strategic independence and autonomy in its decision-making. ASEAN’s centrality, he stressed, must be reaffirmed not only in words but through decisive action. This includes upholding strategic autonomy, reinforcing internal consensus, and strengthening the bloc’s adaptability to external shocks. In the face of increasing transnational crime, the Prime Minister announced Vietnam’s proposal to draft an ASEAN Declaration on Enhancing Cooperation in the Apprehension of Fugitives, and called for support from fellow member states.

Concluding his remarks, Prime Minister Chinh expressed his firm belief that with shared trust and a common vision, ASEAN would overcome any turbulence and continue moving forward with confidence. He affirmed Vietnam’s commitment to being a responsible, proactive, and constructive member of ASEAN, working together to build a community that is “more united, more resilient, more proactive, more inclusive, and more sustainable”—for today and for generations to come.