Malaysia Calls For Urgent Reforms To Global Governance And Multilateral System

From Mohd Khairi Idham Amran

NEW DELHI, May 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has called for urgent reforms to the global governance and multilateral system, warning that the current framework is no longer sustainable in addressing mounting global challenges affecting developing nations.

Speaking during the BRICS Partners’ Foreign Ministers’ Meeting here today, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the existing global governance system was “creaking under the weight of humanity’s most pressing worries”, including widening inequalities, unsustainable debt burdens, climate crises and unilateral trade measures.

He said these challenges had significantly eroded trust in multilateralism and international cooperation over the years.

“Deepening inequalities, unsustainable debt, climate crises, and unilateral trade measures have eroded trust in multilateralism and international cooperation over many years. But now it has reached a point that is simply unworkable,” he said. 

He noted that countries in the Global South had long faced significant gaps in representation, access and influence within the international system.

Nevertheless, Mohamad said multilateralism remained the bedrock of global governance and was crucial in ensuring a rules-based international system where all nations, regardless of size or power, were accorded a fair voice.

“We have seen what a world looks like, which is driven by power rather than by rules. Developing and smaller nations have been left vulnerable to exploitation, exclusion, and isolation,” he said.

He said that without meaningful reform, the deficit in trust and hope would continue to widen, particularly in relation to the global financial architecture and debt crisis, as current international financial structures were outdated and failed to account for the unique circumstances faced by developing countries.

“The Bretton Woods institution is still based on gross GDP (domestic product) quotas and is therefore out of step with its own methodology,” he said.

The Bretton Woods institutions, namely the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, are major international financial organisations established at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference to promote global financial stability and development.

Commenting further, Mohamad said the COVID-19 pandemic and other interconnected global challenges had worsened the debt crisis, with nearly 40 per cent of developing countries facing severe debt-related problems.

“About 3.4 billion people live in countries that spend more on debt servicing than on essential services like healthcare and education,” he noted.

The minister said the growing debt burden continued to hinder developing countries from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and left them vulnerable to global economic shocks.

Therefore, he said there was an urgent need for a more equitable financial system, including effective debt relief and restructuring mechanisms to ensure countries had sufficient liquidity to respond to crises and invest in sustainable development.

The two-day meeting, which started yesterday, serves as an important preparatory platform ahead of the BRICS Leaders’ Summit later in 2026. 

Malaysia’s participation allows it to contribute early to discussions on issues affecting developing economies, including supply chain stability, access to financing and technology, and the broader impact of global disruptions on economic growth and development.

-- BERNAMA