KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — RM926.187 million was approved by the government to manage Malaysia’s Asean chairmanship, which involved hosting 326 meetings across the three main pillars of regional cooperation throughout the year, the Dewan Negara was told today.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said, however, that the account has not been closed as there are still Asean meetings taking place until the end of the year.
“For the Foreign Ministry alone, the allocation was RM560 million. It chairs the political and security pillar, the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) heads the economic pillar, while the social and cultural pillar is chaired by the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (MOTAC),” he said during the oral question-and-answer session at the Dewan Negara sitting today.
He was replying to a question from Senator Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz about the cost of hosting the 47th Asean Summit and measures to ensure spending remains prudent and provides economic returns.
Elaborating, Mohamad said Malaysia’s chairmanship created history with the hosting of the Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and the Asean-GCC-China Summit — an achievement never before attained by a chair country previously, given that all three blocs have strategic strengths in terms of natural resources, capital and large markets.
Mohamed stressed that Malaysia’s priority is to increase intra-Asean trade, which is currently still below 25 per cent, to reduce dependence on traditional markets.
Under Malaysia’s chairmanship, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations, which stalled in 2020, were revived, while the renegotiation of the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement (Atiga) was also initiated.
In reply to a question on the economic returns from hosting Asean, Mohamad explained that the summit is not a bidding event like a sports event, but rather a periodic mandate every 10 years that provides long-term benefits through policy decisions, outcome documents and the strengthening of the Asean bloc with a population of over 700 million.
Benefits are also expected through platforms such as Atiga, the Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), and RCEP, which are designed to boost regional growth, while Malaysia’s strategic position continues to attract hi-tech and data centre investments.
“Just look at the investments flowing in… the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) alone has received RM17 billion in investments since its establishment in the middle of this year as multinational companies chose Johor due to the high operating costs in Singapore,” he said.
In terms of geopolitical affairs, Mohamad said Malaysia’s greatest success was implementing an inclusive agenda by accepting Timor-Leste as 11th Asean member after more than a decade’s wait, as a result of consistent diplomacy.
