Lao, Cambodian Prime Ministers to pay official visits to Viet Nam, attend AFF 2026 next week

The visits will be made at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung.

The forum, initiated by the Vietnamese Prime Minister at the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Indonesia in September 2023, has been successfully organised in 2024 and 2025, gradually establishing itself as an open dialogue platform that effectively complements ASEAN's formal processes.

This year's forum is built around the theme "Shaping a Shared Future Together: Peace, Prosperity and People-Centred Development".

On scale and agenda, AFF 2026 will be materially larger in both length and substance than previous editions, with more than 20 activities designed to be diverse, open, and inclusive.

Pre-forum events on June 8 include a dialogue among Southeast Asian political parties, the ASEAN Cities Leadership Conference, a Mekong sub-regional roundtable, the Southeast Asian Youth Conference, and a roundtable on artificial intelligence (AI) governance.

On June 9 morning, the official opening session will take place at the Melia Hanoi hotel, with keynote addresses expected from key Vietnamese Party and State leaders and high-ranking officials from several ASEAN member states.

Plenary sessions will follow, focused on ASEAN resilience and unity, new initiatives for conflict prevention, and the scaling of AI applications across the region. Delegates will also attend a closed-door luncheon discussion on financial technology (Fintech).

On June 10, plenary discussions on energy security and development models will precede the closing session./.