1. When Laos handed the Chairmanship of ASEAN and Related Summits to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on October 14th 2024, Malaysia was certain that it could accept the proverbial baton and carry the race of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) forward.
2. With or without knowing it consciously, Anwar has seen Malaysia hosting the ASEAN Chairmanship in 1985, 1995, 2005 and finally 2015. The first two in Kuala Lumpur while the latter in Putrajaya.
3. Anwar, however, was absent from the ASEAN Summit in the latter. In more ways than one, Anwar was not even sure if he could indeed by the Prime Minister of Malaysia after 2005, for that matter, 2015.
4. Age was growing on him, as was the attendant dis- advantage of being pushed to the sideline of mainstream Malaysian politics.
5. 2025, however, has and would prove different to Anwar. Not only does he have to preserve the legacy of ASEAN with warts and all, since this a regional organization that makes decision by consensus, which makes it a slow moving organization, he has to inject his total dynamism into it as the next Chairmanship of Malaysia in ASEAN would be 2035. Even if Anwar is still around as the senior elder statesman of Malaysia at 87, the ASEAN then have to show that it can at least show its mettle as a top regional organization bar none consistent with the ASEAN Charter as a people-centric organization while ever sturdier in the creation of an ASEAN focused on the Master Action Plan of ASEAN 2010 and 2015.
6. In both documents, agreed in Hanoi and Putrajaya respectively, ASEAN must show its "centrality" by way of being able to allow all ministries across the region of Southeast Asia to work and know each other seamlessly. This is known as Institution to Institution connectivity.
7. By 2035, workers in ASEAN must also enjoy a high degree of horizontal and vertical mobility in the economic community of 700 million people growing to a billion by 2035. Their human welfare and security, in other words, must benefit directly from the policy inputs of ASEAN with no lapses, literally avoiding a repeat of Myanmar.
8. Just as importantly, ASEAN of 2035, must have digital connectivity that is cheap, sustainable and consistent with the advances of Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Augmented Reality, Algorithm of an Apps Driven global economy.
9. It is a good thing that Anwar is a perpetual optimist, marked not least by his enormous ability to overcome tremendous constraints and hardship, including close to 12 years of political imprisonment and by his own admission 25 years of delay as the Prime Minister In Waiting when he was ousted from the United Malays Nationalist Organization (UMNO) in 1998 when he was a heartbeat away from becoming the Prime Minister then should anything have happened to Mahathir.
10. Anwar must make 2025 counts since by the end of 2027, that would be completion of his first five year tenure as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia. 2025 also marks the end of the 12th Malaysia Plan on which Malaysia's economic position as a trading nation is navigated. Is Anwar prepared for all of these and more ? In the following days, day by day, Anwar would have to prove his critics and cynics wrong. How ?
11. First and foremost, Anwar is one of the first leaders in ASEAN to speak approvingly of the ASEAN and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit, which is slated to be in April or May 2025.
12. GCC working hand in hand in ASEAN has been an idea that has been in circulation at the highest levels of both sides since 2009 by the account of one senior Qatari official. Anwar has to make the ASEAN GCC Summit, not merely a massive diplomatic spectacle, but one that can lead to a plus 1 process.
13. In this sense, much to the credit of Anwar, there is ASEAN GCC Plus China process. But there is also the emphasis by Anwar that the ASEAN Plus 3 process should be further enhanced when he was speaking in Davos Economic Forum in January 2025.
14. In the ASEAN Plus 3 process, China, Japan and South Korea, each have a unique value position to be closer to ASEAN, indeed, as a Comprehensive Strategic Partner (CSP). If ASEAN GCC Plus 1 process can accommodate China, it serves to the geo-economic reason of Anwar and his fellow leaders in ASEAN, to facilitate Japan and South Korea to have an ASEAN GCC Plus Japan (or South Korea) mechanism in future. Keeping in mind all three East Asian economic behemoths are also members of G 20, with Indonesia in it too; while the Chair of ASEAN is accepted as an Observer of G 20. With ASEAN GCC Summit in April or May 2025, what ever that is discussed here would be brought into the ASEAN Leaders Summit in May 2025 Putrajaya too.
15. All the ministries of Malaysia and the think tanks connected to them must be able to fire at all cylinders to work well with Putrajaya and Manila, if not Singapore too, granted that the Philippines and Singapore would be the host of ASEAN in 2026 and 2027.
16. Special attention must be given to Osaka Expo in May 2025, a world class quadrennial event, that has had a history of showing the best and the latest technology in each of the exhibition for more than a century. China, South Korea, ASEAN, GCC, indeed, European Union and the UN are all avid participants of the Osaka Expo, not discounting the United States (US) too.
17. Secondly, Anwar has also spoke of the importance of East Asian Summit (EAS) in the middle of October 2025. This would be the last event that marks the end of Malaysia's Chairmanship of ASEAN proper.
18. EAS, as Anwar has said in the London School of Economics in January 2025, is repleted with its Dialogue Partners. They are none other than Australia, China, Canada, India, Japan, the EU, South Korea, Russia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (UK) and the US.
19. Consistent with ASEAN Charter, ASEAN continues to be the primary driving force in fostering regional collaboration and maintaining its central role in regional cooperation mechanisms.
20. Under the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025, section C.2. also highlights the importance for ASEAN to deepen cooperation with Dialogue Partners, strengthen engagement with other external parties, reach out to new potential partners for mutually beneficial relations, and to respond collectively and constructively to global developments.
21. Just as importantly, Anwar cannot ignore the crucial importance of the Development Partnerships of ASEAN with the likes of Chile, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Peru, if ASEAN is to enlarge the Comprehensive Progress in Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) where the UK is now knocking on the door to join. This is because both Malaysia and Indonesia do want to be the eventual members of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), of which Japan and South Korea are already full members. OECD functions like a think tank of best case practices albeit based on the best of neo liberalism economic framework.
22. However, by working hand-in-hand to join Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS), Anwar has also explained in January 2025 trip to London to meet with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer that Malaysia's interest in BRICS is strictly to attend to the new "geo-economic reality" in the world where the states and societies have to mutually enhance each other's economic partnerships. In other words, much as Anwar has spoken on De Dollarization, this is not strictly his top priority especially when the Global South and North still primarily trades with one another in US Dollar, albeit with some efforts to trade with their own currencies too.
23. While Related Summits can mean East Asian Summit and ASEAN Plus 3, it is key to keep in mind that Anwar has to oversee the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and ASEAN Defense Ministers Plus Summit which are traditionally in June and July respectively.
24. Amidst it all, Anwar has spoken of the need to encourage the US and China to have their summits and dialogues convened in a neutral ground such as Malaysia. This is important, which Anwar correctly attested, the two cannot see their relationships as a zero sum game especially in areas such as ASEAN Power Grid that will include China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Competition over who shall have primacy on Strategic Sea Lanes of Communication, Semi Conductor preponderance, Strategic Non Radioactive Rare Earth Elements and Sub Sea Internet Cable, all leading to a world that can meet the net zero emissions by 2050.
25. Not least this is to prevent a climate chaos from becoming a species-extinction cataclysm. These urgent issues are all on the plate of Anwar and Malaysia in 2025. Anwar has to literally "future proof," ASEAN and Asia Pacific. Why ?
26. Indeed, to ensure that multiple religions and civilizational discourses do not lead to a total clash derived from malevolent geopolitical designs of any one power.
27. For that matter, from gross misperception and cyber security threats and pandemic too.
28. Anwar will and must prevail through Track 1, Track 1.5, Track 2 and Track 3 diplomacy with all governments, semi official think tanks and non governmental organizations. Three processes that OECD members and EU are most familiar with due to their democratic regime type, although China despite having a different system of government cannot be excluded regardless of whether it is a Peak or Rising Power. Engagement, as Anwar explained in London and Davos, must be perpetual with all sides.
Phar Kim Beng
Professor of ASEAN Studies
International Islamic University of Malaysia
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