DILI, 09 June 2026 (TATOLI) — Timor-Leste Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão said the ASEAN Future Forum offers a key platform for leaders, policymakers, scholars, young people and regional partners to reflect on the future of ASEAN, particularly in ensuring that peace remains the foundation of regional stability, cooperation and sustainable development.
The Prime Minister made the remarks at the ASEAN Future Forum 2026 held in Hanoi today under the theme “Shaping Our Future Together: Peace, Prosperity, People-Centred,” which he described as “both timely and important.”
“We meet at a time of deep global uncertainty. We face a world of rising conflict, intolerance and geopolitical tension. The very foundations of international law are being tested,” Gusmão said in his keynote address in Hanoi, on Tuesday.
Despite these challenges, he said ASEAN continues to stand as an important model of dialogue, patience and regional cooperation.
Describing Southeast Asia’s shared history, Gusmão said it reflects “ancient cultures, colonial wounds, wars, liberation movements, reconciliation, economic transformation and regional cooperation.”
The Prime Minister also highlighted ASEAN’s diversity, noting that member states speak different languages, follow different traditions and have distinct national experiences. “Yet ASEAN has shown that diversity does not have to be a weakness. It can be a source of wisdom, patience and strength,” he said, adding that this spirit should guide the region in addressing future challenges.
At a time of rising global conflict, Gusmão called for solidarity in defending international law, warning of what he described as a widening global “rupture.”
He said even some leaders of Western middle powers now speak of such a rupture and of the need for middle powers to work together to shape a new world order.
Gusmão cautioned that efforts to redesign the international system risk being driven by the interests of a few, potentially marginalising developing countries, fragile states, and smaller and more vulnerable nations.
“These countries will find themselves, once again, at the margins of a system they did not design and were not asked to shape,” the Prime Minister said.
Gusmão stressed that the international system should not be abandoned but strengthened. “Our task is not to abandon the international system, but to uphold, repair and strengthen it,” he said, urging that international law must apply equally to all nations, large and small.
The Prime Minister added that ASEAN was built on principles the world now urgently needs, including sovereignty, consensus, peaceful settlement of disputes, regional centrality and mutual respect.
“In a world that is fracturing along lines of power and interest, ASEAN is proof that another way is possible,” he said, noting that these principles represent the core of ASEAN’s approach to regional cooperation.
Also present at the forum were Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Manet, Prime Minister of Laos Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister of Thailand Anutin Charnvirakul, and the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Kao Kim Hourn.
TATOLI
