Asean meetings to be held in all states, even K'tan, Anwar says

PARLIAMENT | Asean meetings to be hosted by Malaysia next year will be spread among all states in the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak, said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Speaking at the Dewan Rakyat this morning, he indicated that no state will be left behind in reaping economic benefits from Malaysia’s chairpersonship of the regional body.

“We have decided that all ministerial-level meetings, such as meetings between foreign ministers and economic ministers, and officer-level discussions will be arranged to take place throughout all states in the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak.

“I have also decided... because some states like Perlis or Kelantan do not have enough capacity to host (major events), we will try to make an arrangement for them to host working-level meetings between Asean officials.

“Or at least, we will arrange for visits to the states,” he said.

Anwar was responding to a question posed by Mohd Isam Mohd Isa (BN-Tampin), who wanted to know how the federal government plans to encourage state governments and the private sector to participate and benefit from the Asean Summit 2025.

For the record, Malaysia has taken over the Asean chairpersonship from Laos following the conclusion of the 44th and 45th Asean Summits and related meetings last week.

However, according to the prime minister, Putrajaya has decided that all main events involving heads of state will be confined to the country’s capital.

This is due to logistics issues as main events would involve between 25 and 30 heads of state.

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