Prime Minister attends Plenary Session of 43rd ASEAN Summit
VGP - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the Plenary Session of the 43rd ASEAN Summit held at the Jakarta Convention Center in Indonesia, on September 5.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attends the Plenary Session of the 43rd ASEAN Summit held at the Jakarta Convention Center, Jakarta, Indonesia, September 5, 2023 - Photo: VGP
Addressing the event, Pham said, amidst global economic slowdown and complicated geopolitical instability, the ASEAN Community continues to develop sustainably and steadily, affirming its role as the epicenter of growth thanks to joint efforts and solidarity of the member countries and the leadership of Indonesia as the ASEAN Chairmanship 2023.
ASEAN remains a bright spot in economic growth, the center of free trade agreement (FTA) networks and the center of important regional cooperation mechanisms such as ASEAN+1 and ASEAN+3, and East Asia Summit (EAS), the Prime Minister highlighted.
He stressed the importance of increasing resilience of ASEAN via promoting economic linkages, expanding the internal market, and opening up trade and investment flows.
Pham suggested other ASEAN Member States urgently remove bottlenecks and barriers on policies and institutions, and maintain stability of internal supply chains, in order to improve the region's resilience to external impacts and challenges.
He also proposed economic ministers of ASEAN review, and upgrade FTAs and negotiate new FTAs between ASEAN and partners to create new development impetus for the regional economies.
ASEAN needs to determine that ensuring the regional peace and security is, first and foremost, the responsibility and effort of ASEAN itself, said Pham, calling on ASEAN members to uphold the spirit of solidarity, independence, and self-reliance.
The bloc welcomes partners to take part in the regional cooperation, and support ASEAN to cope with common challenges, he added.
With the motto of making people the center, goal and driving force of the community building process, it is necessary to narrow development gap among ASEAN Member States, particularly in remote, and disadvantaged areas, Pham said.
He hailed initiatives of Indonesia in developing digital economy, maritime economy, food security, building a sustainable and resilient electric vehicle ecosystem, considering these as proactive and creative steps of ASEAN to serve the practical interests of the people.
The Vietnamese leader announced that Viet Nam will host the ASEAN Future Forum on rapid, sustainable, people-centered development to supplement ASEAN's official forums and mechanisms, creating opportunities for widespread exchange of ideas and initiatives for regional cooperation, contributing to building a resilient and sustainable ASEAN Community.
On this occasion, the regional leaders adopted several documents, including the Declaration on inclusive development for people with disabilities, family development and gender equality, enhancing food security, early childhood care and education; and the Framework of the ASEAN Public Health Emergency Coordination System./.
