Vietnam and ASEAN continue to write successes

“Vietnam always tries its best for a united and strong ASEAN Community with an increasingly high role and position in the region and the world,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized in his opening speech at the Forum. ASEAN Future Forum 2024.

Enhance the spirit of solidarity and autonomy

“After nearly six decades of formation and development, it can be affirmed that ASEAN has never been in a better position than it is today and has never faced as many challenges as it does today,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated. identify.

In the context of the world facing major turning points, with increasingly fierce competition and separation and the explosion of new technologies, according to him, talking about the future and planning for the future is becoming more and more important. should be more urgent than ever.

Next, the Prime Minister raised many proposals for ASEAN to realize its aspiration of building a dynamic, cohesive and self-reliant development community by 2045. The first thing he mentioned was to strengthen solidarity. , cooperation, unity in diversity, upholding the spirit of independence, self-reliance, and strategic autonomy of ASEAN.

“Tomorrow starts from today – Vietnam will continue to make more efforts with other countries, international partners and friends, especially ASEAN countries, to join hands to continue writing success stories, opening up a future of unity in diversity, actively contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world, taking people as the center, the subject of development and leaving no one behind. behind,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized.

After the speech of the Head of the Vietnamese Government, there were lively discussions and constructive comments at the forum.

Approaching the question of the future for ASEAN from the organization’s own history, Mr. Kishore Mahbubani of the Asian Research Institute (National University of Singapore) commented that ASEAN has achieved many achievements since its establishment.

But the biggest thing this bloc can do is maintain a peaceful and stable environment, despite the diversity in politics, culture and level of economic development among member countries.

For ASEAN to develop sustainably in the future, according to him, countries need to respect and maintain the values ​​that make up the ASEAN brand, including the principles of consensus and consultation to continue to strengthen trust. strategy between countries.

Many speakers agreed with the statement that strengthening peace and security for ASEAN to continue to develop brings benefits not only to the people and countries in the region but also to the world.

More boldly, speaker Kavi Chongkittavorn from Thailand also proposed that countries organize the ASEAN + 2 mechanism, putting this bloc in an intermediary role for the US and China. “We need to show both of these countries that a strong ASEAN will benefit both China and the US,” he said.

Prepare for the digital future

Maintaining its central role and consolidating peace and solidarity in the region is considered the foundation for ASEAN’s sustainable development in the future. And the forum in Hanoi on April 23 succeeded in becoming a place to share and discuss ideas to continue to do that in the future. Besides, there are opinions on ASEAN’s upcoming direction in economic development and what needs to be done.

Professor Ian Goldin, former vice president of the World Bank, affirmed that “the future of ASEAN is also the future of the world” when many new global development trends flock to Southeast Asia, including economic development. number.

Data from the World Bank estimates that entering the digital era, in the period 2023 – 2027, the number of low-skilled occupations disappearing will range from 20 – 50%. However, the number of new jobs created will increase by 25 – 50%, focusing on digital and high-tech industries.

The top five fields in creating new jobs are those specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, followed by sustainable development, business analytics, information security and financial technology. main.

To take advantage of this trend, according to President of the ASEAN and East Asia Economic Research Institute Tetsuya Watanabe – also a speaker at the forum, ASEAN, including Vietnam, needs to re-skill human resources, creating a skills ecosystem based on three pillars including: education and training, labor market information and labor market research, creating a unified framework for ASEAN countries.

He suggested that ASEAN needs to focus on digital skills education for future generations, mobilize the role of the private sector in short-term training and find new directions for vocational training.