PM Pham Minh Chinh and other leaders at the first ASEAN-GCC Summit in Saudi Arabia, October, 2023.

First, ASEAN and GCC should work harder to make economics, trade, and investment the mainstay for connectivity between the two regions. Priority should be given to developing the green economy, the digital economy, the circular economy, the sharing economy, and sustainable agriculture among other items. It’s crucial to promote cultural, labor, trade, investment, tourism, infrastructure connectivity and people-to-people activities, he said.

Second, it’s necessary to institutionalize ASEAN-GCC by regular, substantive, and effective cooperation mechanisms in each specific area.

Third, the two sides need to increase multilateral cooperation to maintain peace and stability as cornerstones for development.

He said the first ASEAN-GCC Summit is a historic milestone and Vietnam supports the meeting’s adoption of a joint statement to take ASEAN-GCC to a new level. Both sides should strive to make bilateral cooperation a regional and global highlight, PM Chinh said.