Speaking at the opening of the 46th Asean Summit here, he said this followed the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Langkawi earlier this year.

“I have taken the liberty of writing to president Donald Trump to seek his understanding and support in organising a US-Asean meeting, which reflects our serious commitment to the principle of centrality.

“This speaks not only to our aspirations but also to our responsibilities,” he said, adding that Asean’s future rests on the “twin pillars of equitable, sustainable growth and lasting resilience”.

It was previously reported that foreign minister Mohamad Hasan and US secretary of state Marco Rubio had met on April 5 to set a date for the Asean-US Special Summit.

However, on April 3, Trump announced a series of new tariffs that directly increased import duties on Southeast Asian imports, hitting Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam the hardest. Malaysia was slapped with a 24% tariff while Singapore received the lowest of 10%.

Asean’s economic ministers said that the 10-member bloc would not impose any retaliatory measures as the group wanted to engage in a “frank and constructive” dialogue with the US to address trade-related concerns.

While member states have been holding bilateral discussions with the US, Anwar said there was a unanimous tacit agreement among Asean leaders to preserve regional consensus.

“When we encountered the tariff issue, we agreed to proceed with bilateral meetings while maintaining Asean consensus,” he said.

Anwar also noted encouraging progress on the Myanmar crisis through the establishment of the Informal Advisory Group on Myanmar, an unofficial team of regional figures led by former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The group leverages personal connections and diplomatic flexibility to facilitate dialogue with Myanmar’s military junta and other parties, to advance peace efforts such as the Asean Five-Point Consensus.

“Quiet engagement matters. The steps may be small and the bridge may be fragile, but as they say, in matters of peace, even a fragile bridge is better than a widening gulf,” Anwar said.

Malaysia is chairing Asean this year, as the regional bloc marks a decade since the establishment of the Asean Community.

Leaders are expected to adopt a new 20-year vision this afternoon to guide the bloc’s future direction.