ASEAN MUST FUTURE-PROOF REGION AMID GLOBAL CHALLENGES - MOHAMAD
By Ahmad Aidil Syukri Hamzah
KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 (Bernama) -- ASEAN member states must stay united and intensify efforts to build a future-proof Southeast Asia amid growing geopolitical uncertainties, economic fragmentation and global disruptions.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the region must uphold strategic autonomy and collective action to navigate emerging threats such as climate change, technological disruption and rising polarisation.
“In a world fragmented by conflict, our founders chose to build bridges and uplift multilateralism. Today, we face newer threats - climate change, destructive technologies, (and) societies driven by political and economic polarisation.
“In the realm of geopolitics, great power rivalries cast their long shadows across our region. Protectionism endangers the open multilateral trade which powers our growth.
“Distant conflicts disrupt our markets, supply chains and food security. These issues endanger us all, but especially those of us in the Global South. We, in ASEAN, must focus our efforts towards a full, future-proof Southeast Asia,” he said in his opening remarks during the opening ceremony of the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) here Wednesday.
Mohamad said ASEAN’s foundation, laid 58 years ago with the Bangkok Declaration, was a visionary move at a time when the world was defined by nuclear tensions and proxy wars.
He stressed that Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025 would be guided by the values of inclusivity and sustainability, in line with the recently adopted ASEAN Community Vision 2045, which aims to shape a resilient, innovative and people-centred region.
The 58th AMM and related meetings, held under Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship for 2025 with the theme ‘Inclusivity and Sustainability’, features 24 ministerial-level meetings involving ASEAN Dialogue Partners and Sectoral Dialogue Partners.
The four-day high-level events bring together around 1,500 delegates, including foreign ministers from ASEAN member states, Timor-Leste, ASEAN Dialogue Partners, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) participants, Sectoral Dialogue Partners and senior ASEAN Secretariat officials.
-- BERNAMA
