On April 1, Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet chaired a press conference on the ASEAN Future Forum 2024. (Photo: Anh Son)

On April 1 afternoon, a press conference for the ASEAN Future Forum 2024, an initiative proposed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, was held in Hanoi. The press conference was chaired by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet, with the participation of Director General of the Press and Information Department Pham Thu Hang and the Acting Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam Pham Lan Dung.

Addressing major questions of "how?"

During the press conference, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet stated that the initiative to organize the ASEAN Future Forum was announced by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, in September 2023. This is Vietnam's initiative with the aspiration to contribute together with ASEAN member states, friends, partners of ASEAN, and various stratums of ASEAN's population to shape the future development path for ASEAN. This year's Forum, scheduled for April 23rd in Hanoi, will be large-scale, with the participation of 200-300 delegates both in-person and online.

Having established and developed for nearly six decades, ASEAN is preparing to enter a new phase of development with completing the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, amidst a rapidly changing and complex global and regional landscapes, which present numerous opportunities and challenges. ASEAN member states themselves are faced with various choices in their development strategies and visions for ASEAN, the region, and the world.

Participants at the press conference. (Photo: WVR/Anh Son)

According to Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet, the new situation poses significant questions for ASEAN both now and in the future: How to maintain its central role and adapt to the changing dynamics of the region and the world? How can ASEAN effectively address, balance, and reconcile the interests of its members and with its external partners? How to strike a balance between innovation, development, and the preservation of ASEAN's core values? How can ASEAN achieve rapid development and increased prosperity while ensuring the sustainability of development, with people at the center of this process?

In such a context, the idea of organizing the ASEAN Future Forum is part of Vietnam's and ASEAN countries' efforts to create a platform for exchanging ideas and seeking solutions to the aforementioned questions.

Deputy Foreign Minister Viet informed that the Forum will be organized in an open format, with the participation of representatives from both governments and other agencies. It is expected that the Forum will provide a framework for stakeholders from both within and outside the region to contribute ideas and initiatives for shaping ASEAN's vision for 2045 and implementing it in the future. It aims to represent the voices and contributions of the region in directing the future development of the world through the UN Future Summit, scheduled for September. This is also Vietnam's specific contribution to the collective effort towards building an ASEAN community centered on people, promoting rapid and sustainable development in ASEAN.

The theme of this year's Forum is "Toward fast and sustainable growth of a people-centered ASEAN community." Therefore, Deputy Foreign Minister Viet believes that the theme reflects the current significant concerns of the Vietnamese Government as well as the shared interests of ASEAN and countries worldwide. It closely aligns with ASEAN's and Vietnam's development orientations, especially in promoting sustainable economic growth, "people-oriented" policies, and placing people at the center.

Director General of the Press and Information Department Pham Thu Hang speaks at the press conference. (Photo: Anh Son)

According to Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet, the theme was directly set by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and has received considerable attention and promotion recently. It is anticipated that the Head of the Government will deliver a keynote speech at the opening session of the Forum, along with the Prime Minister of Laos, who serves as the Chair of ASEAN 2024, and the ASEAN Secretary-General. Additionally, there will be recorded messages from the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Prime Minister of Malaysia, the ASEAN Chair for 2025, during the opening session.

Vietnam aims to contribute more and better to ASEAN

Answering reporters' questions about expectations for the Forum in the second part of the press conference, Deputy Minister Viet expressed his hope that the ASEAN Future Forum will be the first event, kicking off a series of annual forums to be organized in the future.

The Deputy Foreign Minister hopes that the Forum will bring together a wide range of high-level representatives, officials from various levels of ASEAN member states, partners, and stakeholders to exchange views and assess the situation. From this, he expects that there will be many new creative and innovative ideas contributed to the formal discussions within the framework of ASEAN and ASEAN with its partners.

"ASEAN has various mechanisms ranging from high-level to sectoral levels, and with an open forum like the ASEAN Future Forum, I hope ASEAN will generate many new ideas to shape the future of the Association," Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet emphasized.

Acting President of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam Pham Lan Dung at the press conference. (Photo: Anh Son)

In evaluating the differences of the ASEAN Future Forum compared to other forums and conferences within ASEAN cooperation framework, Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet believes that the most significant highlight of the Forum is the participation of various sectors within ASEAN. With the message of "placing people at the center," Vietnam's organization of the Forum fosters openness, providing opportunities for all sectors to participate and contribute their opinions.

The dialogue session between the ASEAN Secretary-General and youth will create opportunities to understand the aspirations of this indispensable force for ASEAN's future, thereby ensuring the best future for ASEAN.

the ASEAN Future Forum is one of the major multilateral events that Vietnam is organizing in 2024, carrying the message that Vietnam desires to proactively and positively contribute, participate in shaping the future and new developments of ASEAN in the coming time, Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet asserted. The organization of the ASEAN Future Forum 2024 holds significant importance in the overall foreign policy and diplomacy strategy of Vietnam, particularly in implementing the multilateral foreign policy direction outlined at the 13th Party Congress.

"The Forum is an initiative for Vietnam to concretize the policy of always actively and positively promoting the role of multilateral mechanisms of which Vietnam is a member, especially within the frameworks of ASEAN and the United Nations, thereby creating new platforms for Vietnam to contribute more to multilateral forums in the future," Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet emphasized at the press conference.

The emblem and official website of AFF 2024 were also announced at https://www.asean-futureforum.com.