Malaysia’s stewardship has positioned Asean to accelerate regional transformation through a more integrated, innovative and people-centred approach.
MALAYSIA’s Asean chairmanship is steering the region toward a transformative decade of economic integration, inclusivity and sustainability, marking a decisive step into the Asean Community Vision 2045 (ACV 2045).
Under the theme “Inclusivity and Sustainability”, Malaysia’s leadership has launched the Asean Economic Community (AEC) Strategic Plan 2026 to 2030, a forward-looking framework designed to align Asean’s financial systems with global standards while strengthening resilience to emerging challenges.
This milestone year concluded the Asean Community Vision 2025 (ACV 2025) initiated during Malaysia’s 2015 chairmanship, which laid the foundation for today’s progress across the Asean Political-Security, Economic, and Socio-Cultural pillars.
With a 97% implementation rate under the AEC Blueprint 2025 – comprising 75% completed and 22% ongoing measures – Malaysia’s stewardship has positioned Asean to accelerate regional transformation through a more integrated, innovative and people-centred approach.
At the core of this agenda, the AEC Strategic Plan 2026 to 2030 introduces 18 priority economic deliverables clustered under four thrusts: enhancing trade and investment, creating an inclusive and sustainable pathway, promoting integration and connectivity, and building a digitally resilient Asean.
Three of these fall under the finance track, endorsed at the 12th Asean Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Catalysing Green Finance for a Just and Climate-Resilient Asean tops the list of deliverables. Recognising projected gross domestic product losses of up to 11% by 2100 due to climate risks, Malaysia has championed a three-pronged sustainability approach: developing tools for decarbonisation and resilience, securing climate project funding, and supporting the green transition of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
These efforts are supported by the publication of the Asean Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance Version 4, introducing an “Amber” category to reflect economic diversity, and the Asean Transition Finance Guidance Version 2 to align financial institutions with global climate goals.
Complementing this, Malaysia launched the Asean Infrastructure Fund Action Plan 2025 to 2028, introducing facilities such as the Regional Connectivity Project Readiness Facility and Asean Power Grid Transition Finance Facility, alongside a pilot Islamic finance scheme to unlock scalable projects.
Recognising that MSMEs represent 99% of Asean businesses, Malaysia also introduced the Simplified Environment Social and Governance Disclosure Guide and released a supply chain playbook, Building Supply Chain Resilience: Insight into Greening Value Chain for Asean.
