PM Le Minh Hung departs for ASEAN Summit in Philippines
VOV.VN - Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung left Hanoi for Cebu, the Philippines, on May 7 to attend the 48th ASEAN Summit and related meetings at the invitation of Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., whose country serves as ASEAN Chair in 2026.
This year’s summit comes at a pivotal moment as ASEAN enters a new development phase following a decade of community-building efforts from 2015 to 2025. Leaders are expected to examine the implementation of the ASEAN Vision 2045 and its long-term strategic plans.
Under the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together,” the summit will centre on strengthening regional cooperation in key areas such as energy security, food security and ASEAN citizen protection, alongside reinforcing intra-regional connectivity, strategic resilience and ASEAN centrality.
The summit is also set to provide a platform for regional leaders to exchange views on emerging global and regional challenges, including geopolitical competition, supply chain disruptions and the impact of ongoing instability in the Middle East.
After 30 years of ASEAN membership, Vietnam has become one of the bloc’s core and proactive members, contributing to regional peace and stability while expanding economic and strategic partnerships across Southeast Asia.
In recent ASEAN meetings, Vietnam has actively introduced initiatives aimed at enhancing the bloc’s collective response capacity to regional and global crises. Among them is the proposed “a common ASEAN response strategy to developments in the Middle East and other extra-regional crises.”
Vietnam has also continued to deepen bilateral ties within ASEAN. In recent years, the country has upgraded relations with Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand to Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships. Relations with Timor-Leste are also expected to be elevated in the near future.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung’s participation in the summit is viewed as a continuation of Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy of independence, multilateralism and proactive international integration, while reaffirming ASEAN’s central role in Vietnam’s regional strategy.
Resilient response key to ASEAN’s future development, Vietnam plays vital regional role
VOV.VN - The 48th ASEAN Summit in the Philippines from May 7 to 8 is seen as an important occasion for regional leaders to discuss strategic directions aimed at enhancing ASEAN’s adaptive capacity and reinforcing the bloc’s central role amid growing geopolitical and economic uncertainties.
