Last week in Hanoi, EuroCham Vietnam attended the Asean Future Forum (AFF) 2026 under the theme “Shaping Our Future Together: Peace, Prosperity, People-Centred”. The event brought together over 600 participants, including senior leaders from ASEAN member states, representatives of international organisations, research institutions, businesses, and local authorities from Vietnam and across the region.
Opening Session: Shaping our Future together: Peace, Prosperity, People-Centred
On 9 June, the Asean Future Forum (AFF) 2026 officially opened in Hanoi. This year’s Forum reflects ASEAN’s growing need to respond to an increasingly uncertain global environment with greater unity, innovative thinking, and practical ambition. The event welcomed distinguished guests, including the Prime Ministers of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos PDR, Thailand and Timor-Leste, along with the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, H.E. Izumi Nakamitsu, the ASEAN Secretary-General H.E. Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, and over 600 delegates. Representing EuroCham Vietnam at the Opening Session was Board Member Simonetta di Domenico.
In his keynote address, Vietnam Prime Minister H.E. Le Minh Hung emphasised: “If the past nearly six-decade journey was about building ASEAN’s identity, the decades ahead must be about shaping ASEAN’s future in a world where the foundations of economic strength, technological leadership, and global influence are being redefined. Technology is redefining competitiveness. Artificial intelligence is redefining productivity. Data is redefining power. And green transformation is redefining development models.
The Prime Minister also outlined three strategic horisons for ASEAN’s future:
- ASEAN should not merely participate in global trends but help shape them.
- ASEAN should not only be a manufacturing hub, but a hub of innovation.
- ASEAN should not only be a community of states, but a community truly centred on its people a community of states
Read the full keynote address by Vietnam Prime Minister HERE.
FinLunch: Building regional fintech ecosystem: From Policy to Action
Following the Opening Session, Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Nguyen Van Thang hosted a working lunch focusing on Southeast Asia’s fintech landscape. The session brought together senior government leaders, financial institutions, tech companies, equity funds, and relevant experts to discuss how to accelerate the development of a regional fintech ecosystem that is innovative, inclusive, and internationally competitive. Among the invited participants were EuroCham Board Member Mads Werner.
After a keynote presentation by Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Pham Tien Dung, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam Nguyen Manh Cuong moderated a high-level panel featuring:
- H.E. Ms. Mari Pangestu, Special Envoy of the President of Indonesia for International Trade and Multilateral Cooperation
- Prof. Tetsuya Watanabe, President, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
- Mr. Marc Woo, Managing Director, Google Viet Nam
- Mr. Adam Gagen, Global Head of Government Affairs, Revolut
- Ms. Holly Fang, President of the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA)
- Mr. Wang Bo, Vice President of Blockchain Business, Ant Digital Technologies
- Dr. Can Van Luc, Senior Economist
The speakers highlighted that across Southeast Asia, tokenised assets, cross border payment systems, and embedded finance are already reshaping the region’s fintech landscape. For ASEAN, deeper financial integration depends on whether the region can build the infrastructure, frameworks, and institutions to keep pace with the changes.
In his closing remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang emphasised that fintech is helping to realise one of ASEAN’s most fundamental aspirations: bringing development opportunities closer to every citizen, every business, and every community that remains underserved by the digital transformation process.
He called on ASEAN member states and stakeholders to work together in building an ecosystem that is “open” to foster connectivity, “secure” to enable growth, “transparent” to build trust, “inclusive” to ensure that no one is left behind, and “sustainable” to enhance resilience and support long-term progress.
To achieve this vision, the Deputy Prime Minister highlighted four key priorities:
- Enhancing Connectivity and Promoting Standards Alignment and Interoperability
- Promoting Innovation while Ensuring Safety and Stability
- Expanding Public–Private Collaboration
- Putting People at the Center and Measuring Success by Impact
Read more on the FinLunch session HERE.
Fireside Chat: The United States and ASEAN: A Strong and Resilient Partnership for the Future
On 10 June, the 2nd day of the ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) 2026 opened with a high-level discussion on ASEAN – United States (US) cooperation, moderated by President of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam Dr. Nguyen Hung Son, featuring U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau as the keynote guest. Representing EuroCham Vietnam at the Fireside Chat were Vice-Chair Rita Mokbel and Board Member Simonetta di Domenico.
Speaking at the session, Deputy Secretary Landau described reaffirmed that a core principle of Washington’s policy is its support for a “strong, independent, and prosperous Vietnam.” The United States highly values and strongly supports Vietnam’s growing role in the region and on the global stage.
As economic ties between the United States and ASEAN continue to deepen significantly, the US aims to become a strategic partner for ASEAN multiple fields, including:
- Long-term resilience: supplying liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas, and civil nuclear energy, while also supporting initiatives to expand a region-wide interconnected power grid;
- Digital: become ASEAN’s preferred partner in AI, digital infrastructure development, and critical mineral supply chains, underpinned by the principles of openness and transparency.
- Regional security: The US reaffirms support for maintaining peace, stability, and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. Deputy Secretary Landau underscored Washington’s support for ASEAN-led efforts to negotiate an effective and international law-compliant Code of Conduct (COC), safeguarding the legitimate interests of all parties
Highlighting ASEAN’s demographic advantages and immense economic potential, Deputy Secretary Landau expressed confidence in the future of ASEAN–U.S. cooperation, as both sides harness transformative technologies to drive prosperity for more than one billion people across the region.
What this means for businesses
In our complex, inter-connected world, strong regional and global collaborations are fundamental for the stable, resilience, and future-proof growth of each country. Vietnam’s consistent efforts to strengthen international connections and developing internal capacity creates a welcoming, prosperous environment for doing business in the country.
EuroCham Vietnam is honoured to attend the ASEAN Future Forum 2026 and witness the strong regional strategy and initiatives for a peaceful, prosperous, and people-centred ASEAN.
