Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attends 28th ASEAN Plus Three Summit

The summit brought together leaders from ASEAN Member States, South Korean President Chinese Premier Le Lee Jae-myung, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu.

AMRO Director Yasuto Watanabe attended the event as the guest of ASEAN Chair.

Addressing the summit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called on ASEAN+3 countries to further enhance solidarity, connectivity and innovation for sustainable and inclusive development and better response to challenges and external shocks.

Pham suggested ASEAN+3 countries improve the quality of economic, trade and investment cooperation, fully utilize the free trade agreement between ASEAN and China while promptly reviewing and upgrading the free trade agreements with South Korea and Japan, expanding RCEP membership to diversify supply chain and markets.

ASEAN+3 countries need to increase investment in digital infrastructure and data centers, strengthen digital commerce cooperation, and economic management capacity.

Pham also called on ASEAN+3 countries to to step up energy cooperation and invest in climate-resilient infrastructure development. He suggested the three Northeast Asian nations help ASEAN Member States that want to develop nuclear power through technology transfer, workforce training, and ensuring nuclear safety; connect ASEAN+3 countries' financial centers to lure green capital sources for digital transformation and green transition in the region.

ASEAN+3 countries need to coordinate closely to maintain an environment of peace, security and stability for development; serve as a mechanism to maintain solidarity, promote dialogue and trust building, and strengthen comprehensive, inclusive and sustainable cooperation in order to effectively cope with common challenges in the region and the world.

Regardless of the Korean peninsula or the East Sea or any other issue, the most important factor is that countries need to respect international law, the United Nations Charter and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; engage in frank dialogues and pursue sincere cooperation and mutual respect; settle disputes through peaceful means; and work together to shape an open, inclusive, transparent and rule-based regional architecture with ASEAN at the core, Pham underscored.

At the summit, the leaders adopted the Joint Declaration on strengthening economic and financial cooperation./.