Resolving ASEAN Issues Requires Team Effort; Strong Economies To Lead - Tengku Zafrul

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 (Bernama) — Resolving ASEAN’s issues, whether it is about Myanmar or the South China Sea, should be a team sport and not solely rest on the 10-member bloc’s chair.

Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz noted that there is an expectation that the ASEAN chair may need to "liberate" the region from its ongoing existential crisis by addressing pressing issues that have long plagued the bloc.

“But resolving all these requires all member states – particularly the economically stronger ones with more global political currency – to pull their weight.

“The chair leads, yes, but the onus shouldn’t be on the chair alone,” he said in his closing remarks at the ASEAN Economic Opinion Leaders Conference: Outlook for 2025.

Tengku Zafrul said this is particularly important because, given the scale of changes regionally and globally, it will take time for intra-ASEAN dynamics to pave the way for stronger consensus.

Meanwhile, commenting on ASEAN’s take on BRICS, he said it remains to be seen how the intergovernmental organisation will serve as a counterweight to Western hegemony.

The fact that several ASEAN member states are warming up to BRICS’s membership or partnership is a development that all member states need to account for, he said.

Apart from Malaysia, Indonesia (which is now a full member), Vietnam, and Thailand, the way other ASEAN countries weigh the membership/partnership benefits offered by BRICS will likely have a bearing on ASEAN’s future economic growth and resiliency. 

Tengku Zafrul said some may argue that BRICS lacks the cohesion necessary for long-term stability without a unifying force. 

However, ASEAN's 50-year track record is as a real-time case study of how political and economic diversity can coexist while fostering peace and prosperity. 

As such, having more ASEAN countries join BRICS could help scale ASEAN's positive experience beyond Southeast Asia, he said.

“The above list is by no means exhaustive, but I believe those are the key ones that will define how Malaysia navigates the course for ASEAN in its chairmanship year,” said Tengku Zafrul.

Truly, ASEAN has never faced a more challenging landscape. 

In many ways, by getting through these tough issues successfully in 2025, Malaysia can set a refreshed ASEAN tone and spirit for the coming years, he added.

— BERNAMA