Kuala Lumpur: Southeast Asia's regional bloc ASEAN has launched a comprehensive five-year strategic roadmap aimed at strengthening economic ties and boosting the region’s position as a global economic powerhouse. The initiative, unveiled at a summit in Malaysia on Tuesday, outlines plans for deeper financial and trade integration among the bloc's ten member states.
The 41-page document, described as an ambitious framework for growth, targets enhanced regional trade, streamlined business mobility, unified regulatory frameworks, and more sustainable economic policies. It envisions ASEAN — comprising Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar — emerging as the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2045.
"Maintaining the status quo will not be enough," the plan warns, urging member states to take bold steps toward integration to tackle a range of global challenges including geopolitical tensions, climate change, technological shifts, and demographic changes.
While ASEAN formed an economic community in 2015, progress toward integration has been hampered by vast differences in economic development, governance models, and population sizes. The plan assigns the ASEAN Economic Community Council the responsibility of executing the strategy, with oversight from the ASEAN Secretariat.
The urgency for greater unity has intensified in the face of global economic uncertainty, particularly the ongoing trade conflict between the U.S. and China. Southeast Asian countries are among the hardest hit by new U.S. tariffs, with levies of up to 49% looming if current negotiations falter.
Tricia Yeoh, Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, emphasized the need for ASEAN to act collectively rather than engage in fragmented bilateral negotiations. "ASEAN’s credibility is at stake. If it can't resolve internal issues like Myanmar or maritime disputes with China, its relevance will be questioned," she said.
At the summit, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who chairs ASEAN this year, said leaders had agreed that any trade deals struck individually with Washington must not undermine the economic interests of other member states. Anwar has also called for a direct ASEAN-U.S. meeting to address the escalating tariff tensions.
“As we navigate these turbulent times, the goal is to protect the interests of our 650 million citizens,” Anwar stated.
