On the morning of October 24, 2025, the 26^th ASEAN Economic Community Council Meeting (AECC 26) took place at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, Malaysia, chaired by Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia and attended by the Economic Ministers of ASEAN Member States, Timor-Leste (as an observer) and the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN. Vietnamese delegation attending the Meeting was led by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan, along with representatives of departments under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, Office of the Inter-sectoral Steering Committee for International Economic Integration).

The AECC 26 is a ministerial meeting of the ASEAN Economic Pillar to prepare for the 47^th ASEAN Summit, which will take place from October 26 to 28, 2025. At the Meeting, Ministers discussed the world and regional economic situation and prospects, thereby noting that in 2024, ASEAN's economic growth reached 4.8% (higher than the world's average economic growth), total trade turnover reached 3.8 trillion USD, up 8.9% compared to 2023, foreign investment and tourism both increased compared to the previous year. However, entering 2025, for the past 9 months, the world economic growth has slowed down, with many complex and unpredictable developments, especially the reciprocal tariff policy of the United States, which has negatively impacted and affected regional and global economic growth. ASEAN economic growth is therefore forecast to slow down to 4.3% in 2025.

The meeting updated the implementation of 18 priority economic deliverables of Malaysia during its ASEAN Chairmanship 2025 and noted that by October 2025, 13 PED have been completed, notably the signing of the Second Protocol to Amend the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), the signing of the Protocol to Upgrade the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA 3.0), the ASEAN Sustainable Investment Guidelines (ASIG), and the Enhanced Memorandum of Understanding on the ASEAN Power Grid (APG). The meeting also discussed the final reports assessing the effectiveness of the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025 and approved the List of Activities of the ASEAN Economic Community Strategic Plan 2026-2030, the List of Key Outcome Indicators (KOI), and the progress of expanding the AEC Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.

In addition, Ministers also spent time reviewing the implementation of cross-pillar work of the ASEAN Economic Community such as the ASEAN sustainability agenda, notably the implementation of the ASEAN Circular Economy Framework, the ASEAN Strategy on Carbon Neutrality and the ASEAN Blue Economy Implementation Plan; promoting digital transformation in ASEAN; discuss Timor Leste’s accession to ASEAN and preparations for the 47^th ASEAN Summit (including the signing of the Protocol to Upgrade the ACFTA 3.0 Agreement and the symbolic handover of the Second Protocol to Amend the ATIGA Agreement) taking place from 26 to 28 October 2025 and adopt documents of the Economic Pillar to be submitted to the Summit for adoption, including: (i) ASEAN Framework on Integrated Supply Chains in the Semiconductor Industry (AFISS), (ii) Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Artificial Intelligence Safety Net (ASEAN AI SAFE), (iii) ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on the Vision for Agriculture, Forestry and Food Sector Development to 2045; ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on Quality Tourism; and ASEAN Minerals Development Vision Statement.

Also, within the framework of the AECC26, Ministers had a special discussion on the negotiation status of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Digital Economy (DEFA), with very positive outcome through the "Declaration on the Substantial Conclusion of the DEFA Negotiations", marking a new chapter in the digital transformation process of ASEAN. DEFA Agreement is expected to be the world's most comprehensive regional agreement on digital economy, contributing to the realization of the vision of a digital, connected and sustainable ASEAN Economic Community, promoting the flow of goods, services and data across borders based on rules, infrastructure and synchronized digital capacity.

Vietnamese delegation made positive contributions to the AECC26, contributing to the success of the Meeting with the remarkable results as above-mentioned.

On the sidelines of the Meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan also met and discussed bilaterally with the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia, and the Minister of Economy of Indonesia on issues of interest such as the progress of negotiations on DEFA Agreement, and related discussion contents at the WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Cameroon in March 2026.

The AECC 26 was a great success, completing the preparations of the Economic Pillar for the 47^th ASEAN Summit and related Summits taking place immediately thereafter, from October 26 to 28, 2025./.