KUALA LUMPUR: According to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, a number of ASEAN mechanisms are underutilized and, although once praised for their ability to bring people together, now seem to “plod along by fact of existence.”
He gave the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum, and the ASEAN Plus meetings as examples. These events bring together the ten ASEAN members as well as other external partners like the US, China, India, Japan, and South Korea for cooperation and discussion on a range of issues.
Speaking on Thursday, June 6, at the 37th Asia-Pacific Roundtable in Kuala Lumpur, Mr. Anwar promised to address this matter as part of a renewed push to fortify the regional alliance.
In these extremely uncertain times, we must intensify our efforts to make ASEAN stronger so that it can serve as the principal hub for managing regional affairs. He declared, “We need to go from just talking about it to actually doing something about it and finding ways to make its goals a reality.
In recent months, Mr. Anwar has taken to the public stage to discuss Malaysia’s aspirations for Asean, as the nation prepares to assume the rotating chair role within the organization in 2025. He expressed his desire for ASEAN to strengthen its economic unity in May as it addressed the issues surrounding Myanmar and the South China Sea.
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