Ready for Chairmanship: The Asean 2025 logo was revealed at the end of the Asean Summit in Laso. — Bernama
MALAYSIA is generally seen as the gateway to Asean, which is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world.
As a founding member of the 10-member-state bloc, the country offers unique opportunities in strategic areas such as electrical and electronic (E&E), artificial intelligence, medical tourism as well as environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives, putting it in a favourable position among investors.
Leveraging Malaysia’s chairmanship of Asean in 2025, the government will focus on strengthening regional collaboration in these areas.
This will involve significant participation from the private sector and local entrepreneurs in showcasing their products and services, thus highlighting the country’s commitment to foster innovation and economic growth.
As the chair, Malaysia will also introduce the Asean Community Concept 2045 to enhance cooperation among member states, rally regional solidarity, bridge divergences and promote greater harmony, ultimately promising economic prosperity for Asean.
In addition, this concept will further expand the Asean community not only economically, but also in terms of connectivity, energy distribution and infrastructure.
The upcoming chairmanship also reflects Malaysia’s journey towards realising the Madani Economy aspirations of becoming a leading Asian economy.
Malaysia presently accounts for 13% of the global semiconductor testing and packaging market and ranks as the world’s sixth-largest exporter of semiconductors, constituting 60% of the country’s total E&E exports.
Positioned as the heart of Asia’s semiconductor supply chain, Malaysia has attracted substantial and quality investments which generated significant job opportunities in the industry.
The government is eyeing a contribution of RM120bil from the E&E industry to the nation’s gross domestic product by 2025 as outlined in the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021 to 2025).
This will be further supported by the newly introduced National Semiconductor Strategy, which is aimed at reinforcing the country’s role in the global semiconductor supply chain.
As Malaysia prepares for its 2025 Asean chairmanship, the government looks to foster collaboration with global partners and advance the digital economy in line with the Asean Digital Masterplan 2025 and the Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement.
In medical tourism, Malaysia also presents compelling opportunities for other Asean countries seeking to expand their healthcare options and explore new avenues for economic growth.
Through strategic policies focused on easing visa restrictions, investing in healthcare infrastructure, and actively promoting itself as a medical tourism hub, the country has become a global destination for medical tourists, with revenue from the sector reaching RM2.25bil in 2023, up nearly four-fold from 2021.
To promote sustainable development, Malaysia aims to bolster its focus on ESG practices through collaborations such as the Asean Taxonomy and the Asean-Interconnected Sustainability Ecosystem.
This is in addition to the National Industry Environmental, Social and Governance Framework, which aims to align Malaysian manufacturing firms with international ESG standards.
Malaysia will foster greater collaboration among Asean members to harmonise policies, standardise regulations and improve cross-border trade to strengthen the bloc and propel it towards greater economic prosperity and regional integration.
