KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — Asean must ensure closer alignment between its foreign and economic policy tracks to strengthen regional cohesion amid rising geopolitical and trade tensions, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said Asean foreign ministers and economic ministers must move in concert to face challenges, stressing that such synergy is essential to translate Asean’s unity into tangible outcomes.
Highlighting the shifting global landscape, Anwar warned that tools traditionally used to promote growth, including trade and investment, are now increasingly being deployed to exert political pressure and fragment global cooperation.
“This trend is not a passing storm, but the new weather of our time,” he said when opening the 58th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) here today.
Anwar said power has always shaped trade, but today, it increasingly defines it, citing the proliferation of tariffs, export restrictions and investment barriers as instruments of geopolitical rivalry.
Against this backdrop, he said Asean must confront today’s realities with “clarity and conviction to ensure unity is not only expressed in declarations, but also embedded in institutions, strategies and decision making.
— Bernama
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