KUALA LUMPUR: The Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) must have the courage to forge new partnerships and deepen existing ones amid rising protectionism and shifting supply chains, said the bloc’s chairman Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday (Oct 26) as it admitted Timor-Leste as its 11th member.
The relative peace and prosperity that ASEAN has enjoyed for nearly six decades are not self-sustaining, said Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar as the three-day ASEAN Summit and related meetings opened.
“They must be renewed through cooperation and strengthened by shared purpose. That is why ASEAN is deepening economic linkages, widening trade, and enhancing competitiveness,” he said.
Analysts have billed this year’s ASEAN Summit and related meetings as one of the most significant in years due to high-profile attendees as well as ongoing geopolitical and economic tensions, especially between the United States and China.
Besides Southeast Asian leaders, attendees include United States President Donald Trump, who arrived and was welcomed by Anwar at the airport on Sunday morning, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“2025 is a year that asks more of us. The world feels unsettled – the old order no longer certain, the new one not yet defined,” said Anwar.
“Across regions, we see rising contestation and growing uncertainty. These crosswinds test not only our economies, but our collective resolve to keep faith in cooperation – to believe that understanding and dialogue can still prevail in a divided age.”
ASEAN NOT STANDING STILL AMID RISING PROTECTIONISM
Citing examples of how ASEAN has been forging new partnerships and deepening existing ones, Anwar pointed to Malaysia’s hosting of the 2nd ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the ASEAN-GCC-China Summits earlier this year.
The 5th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Leaders’ Summit, convening on Monday, will also advance the world’s largest free-trade area “toward its full potential”, Anwar said.
He also cited the upgraded ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), launched at the summit, with the aim of creating a more seamless regional market for businesses and workers.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/47th-asean-summit-opening-malaysia-anwar-timor-leste-5425506
