From October 9 to 11, the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and related meetings were held in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. With the theme of "ASEAN: Strengthening Connectivity and Resilience", the participants discussed more than 90 outcome documents on regional economic integration, connectivity, digital economy and green development around the three pillars of ASEAN's political and security community, economic community and socio-cultural community.
We will work together to maintain regional unity, peace and stability
In his opening remarks, President Thongloun of Laos, the rotating chair of ASEAN, said that ASEAN's achievements over the years have brought tangible benefits to the people of the region, reflecting the common aspirations, determination, unity and diversity of the region. These achievements further demonstrate that the "ASEAN way" of guiding regional cooperation is in line with the development situation in Southeast Asia. At present, the international and regional situation is undergoing rapid and complex changes, and it is facing multiple challenges. Against this backdrop, ASEAN should continue to adhere to the common goals of peace, stability and sustainable development, and uphold multilateralism based on equality and mutual benefit.
The summit reviewed the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the progress made in building the ASEAN Community. Speaking at a press conference after the summit, Lao Prime Minister Song Sai said that the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 will lay a solid foundation for the formulation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045. Our goal is to build a resilient, innovative, dynamic and people-centred ASEAN community by 2045.
"Peace and stability can only be maintained through constructive cooperation in ASEAN." Thailand Prime Minister Petuntan said Thailand will work closely with all ASEAN member states to maintain regional peace and stability and enhance the region's status as a responsible global player.
Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said ASEAN must be brave enough to send a clear signal of solidarity to the world amid rising global tensions. He called on the 10 ASEAN countries to strengthen regional cooperation and avoid internal conflicts and divisions.
Viet Nam Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said that he expects ASEAN countries to further build consensus and maintain coordination and balance on foreign relations and issues affecting regional peace.
The participants also agreed to expedite the process of admitting Timor-Leste as the eleventh member of ASEAN. In 2022, Timor-Leste was granted observer status at the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Practical cooperation in various fields has been deepened
The ASEAN Investment Report 2024: ASEAN Economic Community and Foreign Direct Investment 2025 was released during the ASEAN Business & Investment Summit. According to the report, ASEAN attracted a record US$230 billion in foreign direct investment in 2023, and ASEAN's share of global foreign direct investment rose to 17%, up from the average of 6% between 2006 and 2015. The report is optimistic about ASEAN's investment prospects, believing that ASEAN has the potential to attract more investment in emerging industries related to sustainable development, such as infrastructure, digital economy, electric vehicle supply chain, renewable energy, etc. ASEAN Secretary-General Ko Kim Hong said ASEAN is expected to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) as member economies accelerate integration and free trade agreements are reached with more external partners.
In recent years, countries in the region have deepened their integration in the fields of connectivity, digital economy, and green and low-carbon, and the economic, trade and people-to-people exchanges between countries have become increasingly close. During the summit, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Al Langa · Hartato, called on ASEAN economic ministers to pay attention to the progress of the negotiations on the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Digital Economy and complete the negotiation goals as scheduled. The agreement is one of the main outcomes of Indonesia's chairmanship of ASEAN in 2023 and will help ASEAN become a hub for economic growth, including digital talent, digital identity, cybersecurity, retraining, infrastructure, interoperability, and more. ASEAN aims to complete negotiations on the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Digital Economy by 2025.
In July this year, Thailand's Ayutthaya Bank launched a cross-border QR code payment service for Thailand tourists to Laos through a self-developed app, which allows users to directly use the program to scan the QR code of Laotian merchants to pay. Last year, the State Bank of Viet Nam signed a memorandum of understanding with the central banks of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand on regional payment connectivity. The central banks of the six countries agreed to promote the interconnection of payments in the region on the basis of payment methods such as QR codes and instant payments, and establish a sound risk management mechanism in accordance with the legal framework of member states. This year, Laos and Brunei joined the initiative, and the facilitation of mobile payments in the ASEAN region is increasing.
In the area of connectivity, Malaysia launched the "ASEAN Express", a dedicated freight line connecting Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and China, in June this year to further strengthen intra-regional logistics connectivity and cargo exchanges between ASEAN and China. In July, a cross-border railway passenger train connecting Thailand and Laos was officially opened. The opening of the line will not only improve the convenience of railway transportation between Thailand and Laos, but also connect the China-Laos railway and promote trade, logistics and personnel exchanges between Thailand, Laos and China.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said during the summit that ASEAN should unite to fully tap the potential of emerging industries such as the digital economy, green transformation, blue economy and resilient supply chains, drive strong and sustained growth, and continue to contribute to global development and prosperity.
We look forward to further strengthening international cooperation
During the summit, ASEAN held meetings with dialogue partners such as China, Korea and Japan, reviewed the achievements of cooperation in the past few years, and agreed to further strengthen cooperation in various fields.
At the ASEAN-China (10+1) Leaders' Meeting, the participating countries agreed to continue to deepen cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, connectivity, climate change and other fields, and expand cooperation in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, digital economy and green economy. The ASEAN-China Joint Statement on Substantively Ending the Negotiations on the Upgrading of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0 was adopted at the meeting, and the participating ASEAN countries expressed their willingness to take this opportunity to strengthen the docking with the Belt and Road Initiative, continue to promote regional economic integration, build a closer ASEAN-China community with a shared future, and contribute to maintaining regional peace, stability and prosperity.
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said at the summit: "Upgrading free trade agreements is an important step, especially in an era of rising global protectionism. He said that the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area is the first free trade area negotiated by ASEAN as a whole, which has effectively promoted trade between the two sides and made the two sides each other's largest trading partners since 2020.
Since 2008, China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, and ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for three consecutive years since 2020. "The commitments made by China and ASEAN countries in new areas such as the digital economy, green economy, supply chain connectivity, competition and consumer protection, and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises will provide institutional guarantees for jointly building a super-large-scale market." Tang Zhimin, director of the China-ASEAN Research Center of Thailand's Chia Tai School of Management, told this reporter.
In addition, the 27th ASEAN-China-Japan-ROK (10+3) Summit adopted the ASEAN-China-Japan-ROK Leaders' Statement on Strengthening Regional Supply Chain Connectivity. At the 14th ASEAN-UN Summit, the two sides agreed to further strengthen the alignment between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
(Vientiane Telegraph of this newspaper, Yao Xinke also contributed to this article)