Strengthening connections and promoting practical cooperation

The global and regional landscape is undergoing profound and complex changes, presenting both opportunities and challenges. Strengthening solidarity, building trust and promoting cooperation among ASEAN countries are becoming increasingly important to the future of the Community. In this process, people-to-people diplomacy, alongside Party and State diplomacy, plays an important role in building a solid social foundation, fostering closer ties and supporting ASEAN's long-term development.

Ambassador Nguyen Duc Hung, Vice President and Secretary-General of the Viet Nam-Singapore Friendship Association.

For Viet Nam, ASEAN has become an important pillar of its foreign policy. Alongside political-security and economic cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and connections are increasingly recognised as a sustainable foundation for strengthening trust, enhancing mutual understanding and fostering social consensus among member states.

However, a realistic assessment shows that people-to-people diplomacy among ASEAN countries in general, and between Viet Nam and other ASEAN countries in particular, has yet to match the existing potential, strengths and extensive opportunities for cooperation. Many activities remain fragmented and lack connectivity, while regular, practical cooperation mechanisms with the capacity to generate wider community impact have yet to take shape.

This reality calls for renewed thinking, approaches and content in ASEAN people-to-people diplomacy, with a view to making activities more proactive, professional, substantive and effective. This requirement is also in line with Directive No. 12-CT/TW of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat on strengthening the Party's leadership and enhancing the effectiveness of people-to-people diplomacy in the new situation, as well as the foreign policy orientation of the 14th National Party Congress, in the spirit of Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW of the Politburo.

In response to these requirements, the Viet Nam-Singapore Friendship Association has proposed organising the conference entitled “Renewing and elevating ASEAN people-to-people diplomacy in the new era”. The event aims to create an open and flexible dialogue platform connecting friendship organisations, people, businesses, intellectuals, artists and other social stakeholders in Viet Nam with partners in ASEAN countries.

The conference seeks to promote in-depth and sustained connectivity initiatives that deliver practical benefits to all parties, rather than limiting activities to isolated friendship exchanges.

Under the proposal, the conference will be chaired by the Viet Nam-Singapore Friendship Association, in coordination with the Viet Nam-Thailand Friendship Association, the Viet Nam-Philippines Friendship Association, the Viet Nam-Malaysia Friendship Association and the Viet Nam-Indonesia Friendship Association. It is expected to take place in Hanoi on December 14, 2026.

The conference is envisioned as an annual event, with the inaugural edition held in Viet Nam. In subsequent years, it could continue to be hosted in Viet Nam or rotate among other ASEAN countries. The parties hope to gradually develop the conference into a common forum for ASEAN people's friendship organisations, with the participation of regional partners.

A digital platform to sustain connections and expand cooperation

The conference is expected to establish and launch the digital platform “ASEAN friendship bridge”. The platform is envisioned as a space for regular and long-term connections among organisations, individuals and partners within the ASEAN Community.

The website is expected to feature two key sections: “ASEAN TechConnect“ and “ASEAN Culture & Tourism Bridge”. Through this platform, the parties will be able to share information, connect with partners, introduce initiatives, explore cooperation opportunities and gradually establish networks across the region.

The ASEAN Friendship Bridge website should be regarded as a strategic product, rather than merely a communications tool. It is a proposed instrument for sustaining the outcomes of the conference, connecting organisations and partners, expanding cooperation networks and ensuring continuity between successive editions of the event.

In the long term, the conference is expected to contribute to deepening relations between Viet Nam and other ASEAN countries on a people-centred foundation; provide effective support for official diplomatic channels; and contribute to peace, stability, solidarity and sustainable development within the ASEAN Community.

If maintained and further developed, the conference and the ASEAN Friendship Bridge digital platform could gradually establish a new model and brand for Viet Nam's people-to-people diplomacy within the ASEAN region, helping expand connections, foster friendship and promote practical cooperation. This would also provide an opportunity to bring individual initiatives together into a regional cooperation network, ensuring regular exchanges and cooperation activities among organisations and partners.

With this vision, the initiative is expected to contribute to building a united, resilient and sustainably developing ASEAN Community, in which people are truly at the centre, serve as the key actors and act as a driving force behind regional cooperation.