“Shaping Our Future Together:
Peace, Prosperity,
People-centered”

H.E. Lê Minh Hưng
Prime Minister,
Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

At the 43rd ASEAN Summit, Viet Nam announced the ASEAN Future Forum initiative as a multi-stakeholder, multi-layered, and multi-dimensional platform designed to complement existing ASEAN forums and support policymakers in shaping a viable and effective long-term path for the ASEAN Community.

The ASEAN Future Forum aims at the following objectives:

  1. Promoting insightful and comprehensive discussions in both practical and visionary ways among various stakeholders, within and beyond the region, involving government leaders, policy-makers, experts and practitioners (business community, youths and other stakeholders) on issues vital for ASEAN’s future and its progress;

  2. Generating actionable policy recommendations and initiatives be presented for consideration by ASEAN leaders and policymakers, thereby directly contributing to the decision-making process at the highest levels;

  3. Supporting the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, the realisation of the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific, among others, upholding ASEAN’s key values and principles while chartering a sustainable trajectory path for the organization in the longer term;

  4. Deepening trust, understanding and promote mutually beneficial cooperation between ASEAN Member States and its external partners, as well as all relevant stakeholders interested in fostering a progressive future for ASEAN;

  5. Strengthening ASEAN’s institutional capacity so that it could better navigate the complexities of contemporary regional and global landscapes.

THE THREE Ps
OF AFF 2026
PEACE, PROSPERITY, PEOPLE-CENTERED

For nearly six decades, peace and stability have provided the foundation for ASEAN’s development, expanding cooperation, and central role in the regional architecture. Today, however, the region faces a more complex set of challenges, from intensifying major-power competition and protracted conflict flashpoints to an increasingly unpredictable international order.

At AFF 2026, speakers will exchange views on several questions that are critical to the region’s future: How can ASEAN preserve internal unity in a fragmenting world? How can small and medium-sized states safeguard their strategic interests amid growing major-power rivalry? And how should the principles that have helped ASEAN maintain peace be adapted to meet the demands of a new era?

Over the years, ASEAN has achieved significant development gains through openness, proactive economic integration, and deep participation in global value chains. Yet the region’s traditional growth model is now facing mounting pressure, from new tariff measures and the weaponization of supply chains to the growing use of industrial policy as a tool of strategic competition.

Against this backdrop, AFF 2026 will focus on new pathways for ASEAN economies: how to sustain growth momentum, strengthen competitiveness, foster innovation, and build development models better suited to a rapidly changing global economy.

At AFF 2026, “People-Centered” is not merely a motto, but a guiding spirit that runs throughout the Forum’s agenda. This approach is reflected in discussions on transnational challenges, the role of institutions in promoting sustainable cooperation, and ways to ensure that regional policies better respond to the needs and aspirations of the people of ASEAN.

This people-centered spirit is also clearly reflected in the AFF Youth activities. Rather than participating only as observers, ASEAN youth will take part directly in discussions, debates, and the drafting of a “Youth Vision Statement,” bringing the voice of the next generation into the process of shaping the region’s shared future.