On 4 February 2025, Mr. Bolbongse Vangphaen, Director-General of the Department of ASEAN Affairs, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the Young ASEAN Leader Policy Initiative (YALPI) 2025 taking place from 3 to 7 February 2025 in Bangkok. This year’s YALPI is its ninth edition and is organised by the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, under the theme “ASEAN’s Future as an AI Hub: Inclusive Policies for a Thriving Digital Economy”. Over 30 students from the YALPI network of universities in the ASEAN Member States, including Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, are participating in the programme this year.

During his speech, the Director-General discussed the opportunities and challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for ASEAN and emphasized three areas that ASEAN needs to work on to fully harness AI’s potential: (1) promoting cooperation within ASEAN and with external partners, especially through knowledge sharing and networking; (2) enhancing digital inclusion to address the digital divide to ensure that no one or no country is left behind; and (3) strengthening AI governance to ensure that the development and use of AI is safe, transparent, and responsible. He also highlighted the role of youth in driving innovation and the ASEAN digital economy, which is projected to reach 2 trillion US dollars by 2030 through utilising the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) expected to be finalised by end of 2025.