Vietnam promotes digital ASEAN towards people and businesses

On the afternoon of January 12, the ASEAN Digital Senior Officials Meeting (ADGSOM) was held in Hanoi, bringing together many digital technology field managers in the region. In the 6th time ADGSOM was held, Vietnam acted as the host country. This is a multilateral forum to promote cooperation and common initiatives for the sustainable development of the ASEAN digital ecosystem.

At the conference, Ms. Chomparee Chompurat, Permanent Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Digital Economy and Society of Thailand, handed over the role of President of ADGSOM 2026 to Vietnam. The representative of the host country ADGSOM 2025 “completely believes in Vietnam’s leadership capacity”, and expressed his desire to jointly promote a safe, innovative, inclusive and sustainable digital future for the region.

Ms. Tran Thanh Ha, Deputy Director of International Cooperation, Ministry of Science and Technology, affirmed Vietnam’s commitment, as Chair of ADGSOM 2026, to coordinate with all ASEAN member states, the ASEAN Secretariat and dialogue partners, to promote the digital agenda towards practical, inclusive and sustainable development.

As the 6th Chairman of ADGSOM, Vietnam prioritizes promoting the implementation of the ASEAN Digital Master Plan 2030 in a people- and business-centered direction; Strengthen coordination between digital policy, cybersecurity and digital economic development; Expand cooperation with dialogue countries and international organizations.

The ADGSOM Conference is within the framework of the 6th ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting (ADGMIN), hosted by Vietnam, taking place from January 12 to 16 in Hanoi, with the theme “Adaptive ASEAN: From infrastructure connectivity to intellectual connectivity“.

According to the Deputy Director of International Cooperation, this topic reflects ASEAN’s strategic shift in the digital field, from expanding traditional infrastructure and connectivity to strengthening cooperation in AI, computing and emerging technologies, to improve the region’s institutional capacity, adaptability and overall competitiveness.

Previously, as Chairman of ADGSOM, Thailand coordinated with countries in the region to achieve practical and meaningful progress in promoting ASEAN digital cooperation.

Thanks to the joint efforts of member countries, ASEAN has strengthened coordination in many areas such as preventing and combating online fraud; promote initiatives on artificial intelligence (AI) governance; digital data management; facilitate cross-border data flows; cooperate in protecting and repairing undersea fiber optic cables; Strengthen cooperation on cybersecurity.

According to Ms. Chomparee Chompurat, these results demonstrate ASEAN’s common commitment to building a safe, people-centered and trustworthy regional digital ecosystem.

After the procedure of handing over the Chairman’s role, the Conference moved to the agenda. Next are dialogue sessions between senior ASEAN digital officials and partners such as China, Japan, Korea, the US, India, the EU, Russia, the Asia Pacific Telecommunications Union (APT), the World Bank, and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) which will take place on January 13 and 14.

The conference focused on reviewing the implementation of directions of leaders of ASEAN countries, evaluating the results of digital cooperation in the 2024-2025 period, reviewing the plan and budget for 2026, and preparing content to submit to the 6th ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Conference.

“Vietnam expects the Conference to reach a high level of consensus, ensuring that the results presented to ADGMIN are both strategically oriented and feasible for effective implementation in practice,” the representative of host country Vietnam shared.