Three overarching priorities
At the invitation of Philippine President and ASEAN 2026 Chair Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., Prime Minister of Vietnam Le Minh Hung is leading a high-level Vietnamese delegation to the summit in Cebu from May 7 to 8.
In an interview with the press, Philippine Ambassador to Vietnam Francisco Noel R. Fernandez III shared that this year, the Philippines serves as ASEAN Chair under the theme “Navigating our future, together". During this summit and in other related meetings, the theme would be discussed under three overarching priorities. The first is the peace and security anchor. The second is on prosperity corridors and the third is on people empowerment.
The summit will be discussing these three priorities and we are expecting the Summit to adopt the Cebu Protocol to Amend the Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Philippine Ambassador to Vietnam Francisco Noel R. Fernandez III emphasized: "This summit is also very significant because, for the first time, we will have 11 Heads of Government or State attending, with the admission last year of Timor Leste. This is another milestone in ASEAN history as Timor Leste will be participating for the first time as a full-fledged member of ASEAN.
Expecting meaningful contributions from Vietnam
According to Ambassador Francisco, ASEAN member states are facing new challenges this year. Therefore, since the beginning of the year, ASEAN Foreign Ministers have been discussing ongoing regional conflicts around the world and their impact on the region’s economic growth and development.
The Ambassador also highlighted that one of ASEAN’s strengths lies in the diversity of its member states, which enables them to contribute to collective discussions while learning from the strengths of others to address their own limitations.
"In so far as Vietnam is concerned, Vietnam has always exhibited a remarkable annual growth. We hope that the Prime Minister will be able to share his thoughts and his opinions on how the region will be able to sustain its economic growth and development, notwithstanding the challenges we are facing arising from various regional conflicts happening", underscored Ambassador Francisco
In the area of international law, he also highly appreciated that Vietnam has been consistent in promoting multilateralism and adhering to the rule of law and promoting international law. He also believed that the Prime Minister will be contributing his thoughts and opinions on these particular issues as the leaders will be discussing the evolving political and regional challenges that we are facing outside of our region.
"With varying opinions and the sharing of the experiences, we looking forward to having a productive discussion among the leaders in the area of trade and international law. We look at Vietnam to provide substantive contribution on these issues", expressed Ambassador Francisco.
Philippines promotes maritime and migration initiatives
For his part, Ambassador Francisco Noel R. Fernandez III said that the Philippines has a strong foundation in areas related to maritime affairs and migration. Therefore, at this year’s summit, the Philippines expects leaders to discuss a Philippine initiative to establish an ASEAN Maritime Center.
Ambassador Francisco highlighted: "We believe that, in the Southeast Asian region, the waters around each of our respective countries do not serve as barriers but they serve as bridges. We have countries in the mainland continent of Asia and we have archipelagic countries, also in the same region. We look at the establishment of the ASEAN Maritime Center as a forum for us to further promote the bridge of water which connects our different countries. Also, because of the strength of the Philippines in the area of migration, we will be championing initiatives in the area of migration. We will be proposing the Checklist of the ASEAN Guidelines on Effective Return and Reintegration of Migrant Workers. If you remember in previous ASEAN summits, the Philippines has always been very participative whenever we discuss the area of migration",
These will be two initiatives at this time which will be tabled by the Philippines for the consideration of the ASEAN Heads of Governments and Heads of States.
