Advancing Power Grid Among Malaysia’s Top Priorities As ASEAN Chair - Fadillah

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 (Bernama) -- Advancing the ASEAN Power Grid is among Malaysia’s key priorities during its ASEAN Chairmanship, a strategic initiative aimed at deepening regional power market integration, enhancing collective energy security, and unlocking the full potential of Southeast Asia’s renewable resources.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said that under Malaysia’s chairmanship, the endorsement of the Enhanced ASEAN Power Grid (APG) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2026-2030, and the APG Financing Initiative, represent bold steps towards achieving a fully interconnected regional grid by 2045.

“With projects linking Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore (LTMS), and future links with Vietnam and the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines (BIMP) region, we are turning this vision into action - powering a cleaner, more resilient, and inclusive ASEAN,” he said during United Nations Day 2025: Our Shared Journey, on the sidelines of the ASEAN-UN Summit, which was also attended by the UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, today.

He said Malaysia remains committed to achieving its net-zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions target by 2050, reinforcing the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR), which charts Malaysia’s pathway towards a low-carbon economy, targeting 70 per cent renewable energy capacity by 2050.  

According to Fadillah, Malaysia plans to submit its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 3.0, ahead of the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in Belém, Brazil, this November.

“This updated NDC will reflect Malaysia’s enhanced climate ambition, and its alignment with national actions under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement,” he said.

He added that it was an honour to celebrate United Nations Day in Malaysia, noting that under the leadership of Guterres, the UN has remained a steadfast voice for peace and security, sustainable development and human rights.

At the regional level, he said Malaysia continues to strengthen ASEAN’s role as a constructive and reliable partner within the multilateral system.

“As ASEAN Chair, Malaysia believes that regional cooperation plays a vital role in reinforcing and complementing the international multilateral framework.

“Beyond the region, Malaysia’s unwavering commitment to the UN is reflected in its long-standing record in peacekeeping operations. Currently, more than 800 Malaysian peacekeepers are serving in five peacekeeping missions, and one special political mission, across the globe,” he added.

Meanwhile, Guterres said that Malaysia has demonstrated remarkable independence and moral clarity in international affairs, consistently standing on the right side of history, and showing unwavering solidarity with victims of injustice around the world.

“I am particularly grateful for Malaysia’s consistent and principled voice in the international community - in defending the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and statehood, as well as advocating for the rights of the Rohingya in Myanmar,” he said.

Guterres added that, every year, the United Nations provides life-saving food and humanitarian assistance to more than 150 million people, supplies vaccines to 45 per cent of the world’s children, and supports elections in dozens of countries worldwide.

“Over eight turbulent decades, the United Nations has continually reinvented itself, proving that cooperation can prevail, even in humanity’s darkest hours,” he said.

-- BERNAMA