MALAYSIA LAUDED FOR SUCCESSFUL ASEAN SUMMIT'S LEADERSHIP
From Noor Bakhtiar Ahmad
CANBERRA, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s successful organisation of the recent 47th ASEAN Summit reflected Kuala Lumpur’s strong leadership in steering the bloc through a complex geopolitical landscape and maintaining ASEAN unity in 2025.
Senior Analyst – Cyber, Technology and Security Programme at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), Dr Fitriani, said Malaysia demonstrated effective regional leadership in advancing diplomatic engagement, promoting legal-based approaches to maritime security and upholding ASEAN centrality amid intensifying great-power rivalry.
“Malaysia has been quite successful in chairing ASEAN,” she said during the ‘Workshop with Media, Policy and Maritime Security Experts’ under the Blue Security Maritime Affairs Series, held in conjunction with the Southeast Asia Maritime Media Visits Programme (SEAMMVP) here.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)-funded programme brought together 12 journalists from Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam to enhance understanding of maritime security issues and foster regional media collaboration through engagements with Australian officials, researchers and strategic experts.
Sharing a similar view, Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, Jane Hardy, acknowledged Malaysia’s longstanding role in strengthening ASEAN’s diplomatic architecture, recalling her early posting as an Australian diplomat in Kuala Lumpur.
“It was wonderful to see the images out of Kuala Lumpur on Sunday and Monday,” she said, adding that Malaysia’s contribution to shaping ASEAN institutions continues to influence regional diplomacy today.
Echoing that view, Director of La Trobe Asia, Professor Bec Strating, highlighted Malaysia’s diplomatic capability in securing high-level engagement from major powers during its chairmanship.
“I should say, well done, Malaysia, for bringing (US President) Donald Trump to Southeast Asia. That will be hard for the Philippines to match,” said Strating, who is also a Professor of International Relations at La Trobe University.
The 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits, held from Oct 26 to 28 in Kuala Lumpur under Malaysia’s ASEAN 2025 Chairmanship theme of “Inclusivity and Sustainability”, were among the largest meetings in the bloc’s history.
-- BERNAMA
