The 46th Asean Summit, which enters its final day today, builds on the positive momentum achieved yesterday and is expected to further strengthen Malaysia’s role in spearheading Asean’s strategic cooperation agenda with regional and global partners.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s senior press secretary Tunku Nashrul Abaidah said Malaysia remains committed to ensuring that its tenure as Asean chair this year delivers meaningful, principled, and impactful outcomes for the people of Asean, especially through the key sessions taking place.

“Looking at the success of hosting the 46th Asean Summit, we should take pride in having a dedicated team committed to elevating the nation’s reputation and delivering the best possible outcomes for all Malaysians,” he said.

He made the statement during the Prime Minister’s Office daily briefing, broadcast live via Anwar’s Facebook page and the official PMO Malaysia Facebook account today.

Nashrul said today’s focus would be on enhancing Asean’s cooperation with strategic partners, particularly through the convening of the 2nd Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and the inaugural Asean-GCC-China Summit, both aimed at strengthening regional and inter-regional cooperation.

He added that both summits would deliberate on concrete steps to expand cooperation in trade, investment, and sustainable development, in line with Asean’s aspiration to play a more prominent role within the Indo-Pacific geoeconomic landscape.

Also taking place today are the 16th East Asean Growth Area Summit – comprising Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines – and the 16th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Summit, which aims to fine-tune subregional development agendas and strengthen cross-border connectivity among participating countries.

Major achievement

On the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Asean 2045: Our Shared Future, Nashrul described it as a major achievement from yesterday’s summit, laying out a long-term strategic vision to guide the Asean community over the next two decades.

He said the document is a continuation of “Asean 2025: Forging Ahead Together”, signed during Malaysia’s 2015 tenure as Asean chair, and now serves as a new roadmap to build a resilient, innovative, dynamic, and people-centred Asean Community, positioning Southeast Asia as a key growth centre in the Indo-Pacific region by 2045.

“This vision is outlined through six key documents, including strategic plans for the three Asean Community pillars and a regional connectivity plan.”

“It comprises more than 500 strategic measures that will be translated into concrete work programmes by Asean’s sectoral bodies.”

He added that a core component of Asean 2045 is to enhance Southeast Asia’s position in the global economy as a sustainable, smart, and interconnected single market; and to build an inclusive community focusing on education, healthcare, employment opportunities, and social well-being.

It also aims to position Asean as an active international player through principles of peace, multilateralism, and good governance.

Nashrul said Asean 2045 also underscores the role of youth, women, and vulnerable groups in the process of building a regional community.

- Bernama

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