Malaysia will prioritise enhancing trade facilitation among ASEAN countries and strengthening the connectivity of ASEAN capital markets, recognising the strategic importance of its capital market as the country prepares to chair ASEAN in 2025.
Among some of the key priorities under the finance track of next year’s ASEAN meetings, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said that Malaysia will be establishing mechanisms to enhance trade facilitation among member nations and streamline payment systems across ASEAN.
The minister also pointed out that a key priority is to enhance integration of ASEAN capital markets with a focus on enabling initiatives such as mutual recognition of new initial public offerings across the region.
However, Amir Hamzah said at this moment, the penetration of cross-ASEAN trades is lower than what they anticipate.
“If we can get over the mental block that a connected ASEAN achieves a bigger cake for everybody by working together, then I think the future for ASEAN is bright,” he added, saying that the region can achieve more effective results when working together, particularly on climate change issues.
On that, he noted that ASEAN must focus on the actions of individual countries, supporting a just transition and facilitating capital raising for greening the economy.
Despite this, Malaysia achieved a high level of foreign direct investment (FDI), underscoring the country’s growing prominence as a key economic player within the ASEAN region.
Having that in mind, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim described ASEAN as a ‘vital trade platform, offering ‘simplified access to 10 markets in Southeast Asia.
During an interview with Forbes regarding how the country’s resources and regional connections can benefit companies seeking to establish a presence in the region, the prime minister also highlighted Malaysia’s central role within the bloc, emphasising actions to streamline trade flows and reduce bureaucratic hurdles to attract foreign investment.
He also explained Malaysia’s strategic geographic position, which enables broader trade opportunities with non-ASEAN partners including Australia and India.
Apart from that, Anwar pointed out that by integrating Malaysia into a larger regional strategy, companies can unlock its potential as a gateway to Southeast Asia while navigating the complexities of an increasingly interconnected global economy.
Nevertheless, it said businesses should prioritise analytical evaluations of Malaysia’s policies and market conditions rather than rely solely on government policies.
Within this dynamic regional landscape, the interview revealed that Malaysia managed to attract a record of US$74 billion in approved FDIs in 2023, which is the highest in its history.
By mid-2024, Malaysia had already secured an additional US$36 billion, further cementing its pivotal role within ASEAN and highlighting the region’s attractiveness to global investors.
