Here’s how Kuala Lumpur has been making a subtle yet significant impact.
Asean Community Vision 2045
At the 46th Asean Summit in May, leaders unveiled the Asean Community Vision 2045 (ACV2045), a document to guide the region through the next two decades of disruption and opportunity.
The declaration calls for enhancing Asean’s resilience and fostering collective, innovative responses to regional and global challenges.
Asean secretary-general Kao Kim Hourn said the vision incorporates the challenges and opportunities presented by global megatrends and aims to provide a realistic and strategic response over the next 20 years.
“Ten years ago, under Malaysia’s leadership, Asean leaders adopted the Asean Community Vision 2025. This year marks its 10th anniversary, and now, leaders are embarking on a 20-year vision, doubling the timeframe and ambition,” he said.
Kao said ACV2045 is anchored on four pillars: the political-security community, economic community, socio-cultural community, and Asean connectivity.
Myanmar: subtle steps towards peace
Following the deadly earthquake in Myanmar in March, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim engaged both the junta and opposition figures, leading to a temporary ceasefire to facilitate humanitarian aid.
Subsequently, during the 46th Asean Summit, leaders discussed appointing a permanent special envoy to Myanmar, moving beyond the rotating system.
This move aimed to ensure sustained engagement in addressing the Myanmar crisis, which began in 2021 with a military coup and has since led to widespread conflict and a deepening humanitarian crisis.
Thomas Daniel from the Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) told FMT the appointment showed that Asean was “finally recognising the need to move beyond its ad hoc approach” to the Myanmar conflict, though much would depend on how the envoy’s role is defined.
“Asean has always demonstrated flexibility between principles and pragmatism, and the same ought to apply to how it approaches Myanmar,” said Daniel.
Asean-GCC-China Summit
Amid rising economic fragmentation, the first ever Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-China Summit was held in Kuala Lumpur on May 27.
Anwar expressed optimism that stronger ties between these dynamic regions could create a “more connected, more resilient, and more prosperous” future.
Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs told FMT that as China’s rifts with the US and the West persist, it is increasingly reaching out to Southeast Asia and the Global South, regions that have traditionally maintained close ties with Beijing.
Julia Roknifard of Taylor’s University added that the GCC has shown an increasing preference for stable, long-term partners outside the US and European Union.
Two-way Asean-GCC trade is projected to hit US$180 billion by 2032, while Asean-China trade stood at US$696.7 billion in 2023.
Timor-Leste
Asean is fast-tracking Timor-Leste’s accession, with membership expected to be formalised by October 2025 – the bloc’s first geographic expansion in nearly two decades.
Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara told FMT that Malaysia’s longstanding support, along with Anwar’s commitment to regional integration, will help clear the path for Timor-Leste.
Azmi said that admitting Timor-Leste as a full member also has the potential to strengthen the bloc’s economy.
Asean power grid
The long-discussed Asean Power Grid (APG) initiative, which aims to integrate regional electricity infrastructure, is closer to reality, with member states preparing to sign an enhanced memorandum of understanding (MoU) by October.
Following the conclusion of the 43rd Asean Senior Officials’ Meeting on Energy (SOME), Mad Zaidi Karli, secretary-general of the energy transition and water transformation ministry, announced that the bloc’s energy officials had already finalised the MoU’s terms.
During the 3rd Asean-EU Energy Dialogue, EU ambassador to Asean, Sujiro Seam said the APG initiative had sparked strong interest from the EU to deepen its investments in the region’s energy sector.
“This desire (is) not only from our member states and financial institutions, but also from our private sector,” he said in his opening remarks.