Vientiane Action Program

The Vientiane Action Program (VAP) contains strategic themes, programs and measures to help realize the goal of an ASEAN Community that is open, dynamic and resilient. Agreed at the 2004 ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, the VAP, is to be implemented by 2010 to achieve progress toward realizing the ASEAN Vision 2020.

The VAP builds upon earlier ASEAN agreements, most notably the Bali Concord II. This agreement sets out three pillars upon which the ASEAN Community is built: political and security cooperation, economic cooperation and socio-cultural cooperation. These pillars are closely intertwined and mutually reinforcing to ensure "durable peace, stability and shared prosperity in the region."
Strategic themes and measures in the VAP are presented under each of these pillars: ASEAN Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. The VAP also presents goals and strategies for narrowing the development gap among and within Member Countries.

As stated in the Joint Vision Statement on the ASEAN-U.S. Enhanced Partnership, the United States promises support of the integration of ASEAN, leading to an ASEAN Community through, inter alia, the implementation of the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP).