Vietnam leads in goal to build prosperous ASEAN

A hallmark regional event is set to be organised in Vietnam, helping to fortify intra-bloc cooperation, especially in trade and investment, and improve ASEAN’s competitiveness.

- By Thanh Thanh

The ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) 2026 is scheduled to take place in Hanoi on June 9-10, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) announced last week.

The forum aims to create an open, inclusive, and forward-looking platform where leaders, scholars, and businesses can discuss strategic issues concerning the region.

Discussions are expected to contribute additional policy recommendations to support the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, towards the goal of building a peaceful, cohesive, prosperous, and self-reliant region.

At the 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu of the Philippines on May 8, member states noted that this year marks the first year of the implementation of ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future. They reaffirmed their commitment to its full and effective implementation through the timely and coordinated implementation of strategic plans towards an innovative and dynamic bloc over the next 20 years.

Last year, intra-bloc merchandise trade remained steady in 2025, accounting for 20.5 per cent of total trade and represents the second-largest share among its trading partners.

“We noted that inward foreign investment flows to ASEAN increased by 7.9 per cent in 2025, and notwithstanding periodic fluctuations in line with global trends, it continues to rank among the world’s leading destinations for foreign direct investment,” stated a chair statement of the 48th ASEAN Summit. “We noted with satisfaction that intra-regional foreign investment in 2025 accounted for 15.9 per cent of total inflows, marking its re-emergence as the largest source of investment for the first time since 2020 and highlighting the strength of regional investment integration.”