KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 — Leaders of the 10-member Asean and their dialogue partners, including United States President Donald Trump, will meet in Kuala Lumpur from Sunday to October 28, and are expected to tackle issues ranging from trade to global conflicts.
Here is what to expect at the meeting.
World leaders to attend
Trump is scheduled to join the Asean leaders' meeting, which begins Sunday, before travelling to Japan and then South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum from October 31 and November 1.
He last attended an Asean meeting in 2017.
Trump will be joined by top US officials including State Secretary Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Other world leaders include Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Japan's new premier Sanae Takaichi, as well as top officials from South Korea and Russia, and leaders from the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, and Myanmar.
US-China trade talks
Bessent and Greer are expected in Malaysia ahead of Trump's arrival to meet Chinese officials and defuse tensions over Beijing's rare earth elements (REE) export curbs, as Washington prepares to impose fresh trade measures if a deal is not reached.
Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, Beijing's top economic official, is due to hold trade talks with Bessent and Greer in Malaysia from tomorrow to October 27, China's Commerce Ministry said.
Trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies have flared in recent weeks after months of relative calm, threatening to derail an expected meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea next week.
Cambodia-Thailand truce
At the summit, Thailand and Cambodia are expected to sign a broader ceasefire agreement for their border dispute following a deadly five-day conflict in July.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Trump — whose telephone calls broke a deadlock in efforts to end the clashes — helped broker an initial ceasefire on July 28, prompting Cambodia to nominate the US president for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said Trump is looking forward to witnessing a signing ceremony between Cambodia and Thailand during the Asean meeting.
RCEP summit
Malaysia will hold a leaders' summit of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) — the first for the bloc since it agreed to an initial trade deal in 2020 — where the grouping will consider adding new members and discuss ways to improve trade flows.
The RCEP, which includes all 10 Asean members as well as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, is the world's largest trading bloc, covering nearly a third of the global population and about 30 per cent of global gross domestic product.
Some analysts see the bloc as a potential buffer against US tariffs. However, its provisions are considered weaker than some other regional trade deals due to competing interests among its members.
Timor-Leste accession
Asean will formally admit Timor-Leste as its 11th member on Sunday, ending a process that began more than a decade ago.
Timor-Leste, Southeast Asia's poorest nation with about 1.4 million people, applied to join the bloc in 2011 and was granted observer status in 2022.
