Addressing the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Vientiane, Laos on Tuesday, Prime Minister Pham urged the regional business circle to pioneer in contributing to building a resilient ASEAN that can engage in addressing emerging and global issues.

ASEAN's enterprises should pioneer in digital transformation, green transition, net zero emissions, climate change response, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and internet of thing, he said.

They should also pioneer in promoting economic connectivity, including soft connectivity such as building institutions, sharing experience, building priority policies for priority areas; and hard connectivity like transport infrastructure, digital infrastructure, climate change response and energy connectivity infrastructure. In that process, people and businesses must be the centre, the subject, the goal, the resource, and the driving force for development.

Businesses in the region should pioneer in the development of science and technology and innovation, startups, especially in responding to climate change, population aging, natural disasters, and epidemics. They must develop emerging fields, renew traditional growth drivers and promote new ones, while minimising the negative impacts of science and technology development, particularly cyber security issues.

The Vietnamese Prime Minister asked businesses to pioneer in building strategic infrastructure in each country and promoting infrastructure connectivity among countries, specifically in policy making, governance capacity building, resources mobilisation for infrastructure development.

He also underlined the need for businesses to pioneer in intra-ASEAN integration and global integration as now no single country can solve global issues. Therefore, it is necessary to promote multilateralism and international solidarity, bring benefits to the people, and leave no one behind.

He said that Viet Nam is giving priority to promoting high-tech industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), information technology, semiconductor chip manufacturing, and comprehensive digital transformation.

Viet Nam always offers the most favorable conditions for enterprises to fully develop their capabilities and creativity, and optimize Viet Nam's potential, and competitive advantages, affirmed Pham.

Under the motto: "Enhancing Connectivity and Economic Resilience", ASEAN BIS 2024 takes place on October 8-11 in Vientiane, Laos, attracting more than 800 business leaders from ASEAN and the world./.