Malaysia’s 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship: Inclusivity and Sustainability

At the 5th World Association Presidents’ Conference, MITI Minister Tengku Zafrul elaborated on Malaysia’s 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship Strategy. In addition to Malaysia’s pre-announced themes of “inclusivity and sustainability,” Zafrul emphasized that “through our leadership, we aim to create a highly integrated, competitive, and innovative ASEAN that is resilient and inclusive.” This will be through four strategies, namely: enhancing intra-ASEAN trade and investments, promoting inclusivity and sustainability, improving economic connectivity, and building digital resilience.

At the conclusion of the ASEAN Summit two months ago, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim commended Laos’ leadership throughout 2024 and emphasized a continued emphasis on “connectivity and resilience” in addition to Malaysia’s themes and initiatives. Navigating regional tensions in the South China Sea and Myanmar will continue to be priority, as well as forwarding Timor-Leste’s ASEAN ascension. With a round of new leadership across ASEAN states, increasingly influential China, and incoming Trump administration in the US, ASEAN will continue to operate within a “spirit of consensus” among its members and geopolitical partners. Also on the agenda is drafting the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, as Vision 2025 will soon expire, welcoming a new era of growth.  

ASEAN attracted record-breaking foreign direct investment of $230 billion USD in 2023. This past year, Malaysia alone has so far accounted for approved investments upwards of RM160 billion (approx. $36 billion USD) by mid-2024. Malaysia will use its leadership to capitalize on and enhance these investments by pushing domestic and regional initiatives in critical sectors. This includes the finalization of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), moving up in the semiconductor supply chain, and MITI’s Green Investment Strategy. Malaysia’s four-pronged ASEAN Chairmanship strategy calls upon US companies across industries to meet the demands of the region while balancing geopolitics and meeting climate goals, demonstrating “inclusivity and sustainability.”