Foreign minister Mohamad Hasan however said that the account had not been closed as there were still Asean meetings taking place until the end of the year.
“For the foreign ministry alone, the allocation was RM560 million. It chairs the political and security pillar, the investment, trade and industry ministry heads the economic pillar, while the social and cultural pillar is chaired by the tourism, arts and culture ministry,” he said during the oral question-and-answer session at the Dewan Negara sitting today.
He was replying to a question from Senator Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz regarding the total cost of hosting the 47th Asean Summit and measures to ensure that spending remains prudent and provides economic returns.
Mohamad said Malaysia’s chairmanship had created history with the hosting of the Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and the Asean-GCC-China Summit – an achievement never before attained by a chair country, given that all three blocs had strategic strengths in terms of natural resources, capital and large markets.
He said Malaysia’s priority was to increase intra-Asean trade, which is currently still below 25%, to reduce dependence on traditional markets.
Under Malaysia’s chairmanship, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations, which had stalled since 2020, were successfully revived, while the renegotiation of the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement (Atiga) was also initiated.
In reply to a question on the economic returns from hosting the Asean Summit, Mohamad said the summit was not a bidding event like a sports event, but a periodic mandate every 10 years that provides long-term benefits through policy decisions, outcome documents and the strengthening of the Asean bloc.
Benefits are also expected through platforms such as Atiga, the Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement and RCEP, which are designed to boost regional growth, while Malaysia’s strategic position continues to attract high-tech and data centre investments.
“Just look at the investments flowing in… the Johor-Singapore special economic zone alone has received RM17 billion in investments since its establishment in the middle of this year, as multinational companies chose Johor due to the high cost of operating in Singapore,” he said.
In terms of geopolitical affairs, Mohamad said Malaysia’s greatest success was implementing an inclusive agenda by accepting Timor-Leste as the 11th Asean member after more than a decade of waiting.