KUALA LUMPUR: Asean countries could consider enhancing intra-regional trade and investments during US President Donald Trump's second term, says Tan Sri Nazir Razak (pic).
The Asean Business Advisory Council (BAC) Malaysia said that during this period, Asean members could consider boosting their trade. "I think if people build higher walls, we build bigger negotiation tables.
"We have to look at trading among ourselves and strengthen our alliances.
"At BAC, our agenda is to increase intra-regional trade and investments.
"I think that strategy becomes more important," he said during the plenary panel discussion titled Advancing Asean’s Economic Prospects Amid Geopolitical Pressures at the China Conference Southeast Asia 2025, on Monday (Feb 17).
The event was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim earlier.
Nazir also said that Malaysia would soon host the first Asean-GCC Summit this year."That is very important," said Nazir.
Meanwhile, the Singapore Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Ambassador-at-large, Chan Heng Chee, who was also a panellist, expressed optimism about Asean's future prospects, given the regional grouping’s openness to businesses and investments.
“I am bullish about Asean. Asean is the one region where every country is open to trade and investments.
“We also believe in multilateral institutions. We are also very inclusive, and we are open to Japan, China and South Korea.
“When the US is ready to work with us on trade and investments, we will embrace that too,” said Chan.
He added that it would be interesting to see how Malaysia would approach its ties with the US.
