General Secretary and President To Lam delivered the opening remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong also attended the forum.

The Shangri-La Dialogue is the leading security forum in the Asia-Pacific region, organized annually in Singapore by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). It is a prestigious and influential forum on issues of peace, security, and regional architecture. The forum brings together many leading world leaders, defense ministers, academics, and strategic experts.

The speech by General Secretary and President To Lam marked the first time a head of the Vietnamese Party and State delivered a keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

Beginning his speech, General Secretary and President To Lam expressed his sincere gratitude to the Government of Singapore and the International Institute for Strategic Studies for the honor of speaking at the opening session of this important forum. For more than two decades, the Shangri-La Dialogue has become a leading forum for regional security dialogue, where nations share perspectives, listen attentively, and seek responsible approaches to peace, stability, and development.

The General Secretary and President emphasized that change is a constant state of the world. However, whether this change leads to conflict or becomes a driving force towards peace is a strategic choice for nations and the international community. Today's global instability reflects three fundamental crises occurring simultaneously and impacting each other: the crisis of international order, the crisis of the development model, and the crisis of strategic trust. These three crises are clearly converging in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Asia-Pacific region is a dynamic growth hub of the world, but also a place of intense strategic competition; it is the space of vital maritime routes, but also harbors many risks at sea; it is a region that has benefited greatly from globalization, but is also facing direct pressures from supply chain fragmentation, climate change, technological transformation, and new geoeconomic competition.

General Secretary and President To Lam stated that, as a region where challenges converge, the Asia-Pacific must also be the source of solutions. This region shares common interests in peace, connectivity, and development; possesses experience in multi-layered cooperation; has ASEAN as a structure for dialogue and balance; and has sufficient motivation and determination to prevent competition from escalating into confrontation, to prevent connectivity routes from becoming dividing lines, and to prevent the security of one country from becoming the insecurity of another.

From that perspective, General Secretary and President To Lam shared some orientations for building a peaceful, stable, developed, self-reliant Asia-Pacific with the capacity to mitigate risks early and from afar. First, rules and dialogue must become effective means of truly mitigating risks. The Shangri-La Dialogue is where countries listen to each other, clarify intentions, seek common ground, and manage differences, but dialogue should not stop at stating positions. Dialogue must help identify risks early, share information, maintain communication channels when tensions arise, and prevent differences from escalating into crises. This is especially important for the seas and oceans. The seas and oceans are resources, shared spaces, and the lifeblood of global trade, energy, food, and supply chains. No country benefits if these connecting routes become places for displaying power, coercion, or confrontation.

General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed that, regarding the East Sea, Vietnam's stance is consistent, clear, and principled. Vietnam supports resolving all disputes and disagreements through peaceful means, based on international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Vietnam respects the legitimate rights and interests of other countries; at the same time, it resolutely and persistently defends its independence, sovereignty, sovereign rights, and legitimate jurisdiction in accordance with international law.

Regarding the next direction, General Secretary and President To Lam stated that it is necessary to create an open, inclusive regional structure centered on ASEAN. All initiatives contributing to peace, stability, and development are welcome, provided they are transparent, respect international law, complement each other, do not undermine ASEAN's central role, and do not turn Southeast Asia into a space for confrontation between blocs. Vietnam supports and is ready to cooperate closely with the Philippines in its capacity as ASEAN Chair in 2026, working with member states to strengthen peace and security, expand corridors of prosperity, promote connectivity, inclusive and sustainable development, and place the people of ASEAN at the center.

General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized the need to place human security and social resilience at the heart of sustainable security. Today's instability stems not only from military conflicts but also from disruptions in development. What we need is a development foundation that is highly resilient to shocks, with open and diversified supply chains, seamless infrastructure connectivity, cooperation in finance, technology, and human resources; and to promote practical cooperation in disaster relief, healthcare, water, food, and energy security, cybersecurity, protection of critical infrastructure, and search and rescue.

Affirming the need to establish standards of responsibility for new technologies and the defense industry, General Secretary and President To Lam explained: In defense and security, the crucial question is not how powerful the technology is, but how well people can control that technology. Therefore, it is necessary to promote dialogue on AI in defense and security, ensure the ultimate responsibility of people in decisions with serious consequences, establish codes of conduct in cyberspace, protect undersea cables and critical data infrastructure, and ensure transparency regarding technologies that impact strategic stability.

Continuing to share the direction, General Secretary and President To Lam suggested the need to strengthen the social foundation and resilience; protect the information space and raise awareness. Fake news, information manipulation, extremism, social polarization, and targeted influence campaigns can undermine national consensus, distort public perception, deepen divisions, and accelerate the spread of crises. Therefore, protecting peace in the new era also requires protecting the truth, strengthening social trust, enhancing strategic communication capacity, educating digital citizens, promoting the responsibility of technology platforms, and international cooperation in combating misinformation.

General Secretary and President To Lam also stated that it is necessary to enhance the capacity for preventive diplomacy, reconciliation, and mediation in the region. Many crises do not erupt solely due to differing interests, but because the parties lack reliable channels for exchange, space for de-escalation, and mechanisms to shift confrontation back to dialogue. Therefore, the Asia-Pacific region needs to consider preventive diplomacy as a strategic capacity, not a temporary measure after a crisis has occurred. The goal is to create "diplomatic escape routes" before the parties are drawn into a spiral of escalation leading to the risk of conflict.

Speaking to influential partners both within and outside the region, General Secretary and President To Lam stated that Vietnam wishes to send a sincere message: the Asia-Pacific is an open space where all nations with legitimate interests can contribute to peace, stability, and development. The region welcomes the transparent, responsible presence of any major power that respects international law, supports ASEAN's central role, and contributes to reducing tensions. What the region desires is not merely the presence or absence of any major power, but a responsible commitment.

General Secretary and President To Lam expressed that Vietnam understands the value of peace through its own history, and the value of development through its own journey of reform and integration. From that experience, Vietnam deeply recognizes that national interests are closely linked to the peace, stability, and prosperity of the region. Contributing to regional peace is also protecting Vietnam's long-term interests. Expanding cooperation, minimizing risks, and connecting legitimate interests is also how Vietnam fulfills its responsibilities to the international community.

Peace, stability, and development are the common denominators of all nations and peoples. However, these only have meaning when translated into concrete actions, restraint in the face of disagreements, dialogue when differences escalate, cooperation when challenges transcend borders, and the establishment of practical risk mitigation mechanisms. General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed that Vietnam is ready to work with countries within and outside the region to strengthen the rule of law, build trust, promote dialogue, enhance cooperation, mitigate risks, and jointly create a safer, more resilient, and more prosperous Asia-Pacific.

The keynote speech conveyed Vietnam's perspective and message to other countries regarding the direction for addressing the strategic challenges at hand, for the sake of peace, stability, and sustainable development within the evolving regional structure.

Following his speech, General Secretary and President To Lam answered questions from delegates attending the Shangri-La Dialogue, such as: the recent strong reforms in Vietnam and its determination to achieve high development goals; Vietnam's foreign policy and actions contributing to maintaining peace, stability, and development in the region and the world; how Vietnam has coped to ensure high growth in the current global context of energy crises and disruptions to global supply chains; and how Vietnam has approached trends and technological developments, especially AI technology, to enhance its capacity for prevention and ensure security and safety in the current context…

The IISS's invitation to the General Secretary and President of Vietnam to attend and deliver the keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue demonstrates a high appreciation for Vietnam's important and responsible role and position in regional and international affairs, as well as a high regard for the General Secretary and President's role and prestige in guiding the country's strategic development and foreign policy. This also reflects the interest of other countries in Vietnam's independent, self-reliant, peaceful, cooperative, and developmental foreign policy. The event also shows that Vietnam is ready to play a more proactive role in addressing geopolitical and geoeconomic instability.

The keynote address by the General Secretary and President outlines the direction for continuing these dialogues in the future. This is an important recognition of the achievements that Vietnam has made. More than 30 years since joining ASEAN, Vietnam has become one of the most active members, promoting political stability, economic integration, and building a people-centered community.

This year's Shangri-La Dialogue features six plenary sessions and three special sessions; representatives from 44 countries are in attendance, including 54 ministerial-level delegates. The event takes place from May 29-31 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore.