KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz today declared that Asean is ready to a leading role on the global stage, as he called on investors to look at the region as a reliable partner.
Speaking at the Bloomberg Business Summit here, Zafrul said South-east Asia has become a “repository of global hopes” in world that is becoming more polarised. The senator urged business leaders, thinkers, and innovators to see Asean as “a collective of possibilities”, declaring that if Asean prospers, the world follows.
“As we draw this gathering to a close, one message rings clear: Asean is not waiting for the world to change—we are shaping it,” he said.
“These sessions have reminded us, vividly and powerfully, that Asean—with 680 million people, dynamic economies, and boundless digital energy—is no longer just a growth story. We are the story.”
The region continues to defy global headwinds and chart its own course of resilience, renewal, and relevance, the minister added.
Malaysia is host to what has been hailed as a milestone summit that saw leaders from some of the world’s superpowers convened, including US President Donald Trump, Japan’s first female Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, China’s Premier Li Qiang, South Korean Lee Jae-myung and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Analysts said the presence of these leaders reflects the region’s growing economic influence. China and South-east Asia have driven much of the world’s economic growth over the last decade, accounting for over a fifth of global GDP by 2024.
But Trump’s aggressive tariff policy could potentially set the region’s growth back. Asean member states were hit with some of highest export duty rates, some as high as 40 per cent.
Analysts said this year’s summit came at a pivotal moment as the region look to reduce its reliance on the US by deepening collaboration to beef up its own industries and supply chain.
On Sunday, the US president signed a flurry of deals on trade and critical minerals with four South-east Asian partners.
