DESARU: Despite global economic headwinds, Asean's economic outlook remains optimistic with the 4.6% growth last year increasing to 4.7% this year, says Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
The Investment, Trade and Industry Minister said that while the projection seems modest at this juncture, it is seen as promising and a good indication of the region's evolving economy.
He added that collectively, Asean has showcased impressive economic resilience and has continued efforts to recover in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"While some fluctuations were experienced in trade in goods which decreased by 8.3% in 2023, Asean total trade still recorded US$3.5 trillion (RM15.4 trillion) comprising US$1.8 trillion (RM7.92 trillion) in exports and US$1.7 trillion (RM7.48 trillion) in imports," he said during the opening of the Asean Economic Ministers' Retreat here Friday (Feb 28).
Tengku Zafrul said that despite the overall trade slowdown, Asean maintained a trade surplus of US$96.7bil (RM425bil) in 2023, which potentially contributed to the region’s economic growth.
He added that foreign direct investment flows into Asean have also shown steady growth over the past decade, rising from US$129.9bil (RM571bil) in 2014 to US$229.8bil (RM1 trillion) in 2023.
"This shows Asean's continued attractiveness to foreign investors," he said, adding that in the face of global economic headwinds, mainly stemming from geopolitical influences and shifts, it was prudent for the grouping to assess the dynamics of the situation and understand the eventualities that might impact the regional economic landscape.
He stressed that in response to these challenges, it was vital for Asean to enhance internal cohesion and diversify its external partnerships.
"Strengthening economic integration within the region, accelerating initiatives like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and engaging with other global partners could mitigate the adverse effects of policy shifts by major economies.
"One of them is the proposed 2nd Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and the Asean-GCC-China Summit presented by Malaysia during this retreat," he added.
Earlier, Tengku Zafrul paid tribute to Laos for its successful Asean chairmanship last year.
"Under their stewardship, Asean made significant gains in various initiatives and goals that accentuated our commitment towards inclusivity, sustainability, regional integration, with a collective vision for regional peace, prosperity and progress.
"Malaysia greatly appreciates and looks forward to the strong support among our Asean members in realising this vision for our region in deepening unity and centrality, economic integration and people-centred development throughout 2025," he added.
Tengku Zafrul stressed that inclusivity and sustainability have been a mantra for Asean for the past decade under the Asean Community Vision (ACV) 2025.
He added that while they were seeing the fruition of the ACV 2025 aspiration so far, more needed to be done to integrate economies between members.
"From the Malaysian perspective, the year 2025 is where Asean goes back to the spirit of establishing this regional pact, which is about embracing the future with a clear vision focused on inclusivity and sustainability, ensuring that every voice matters and leaving no one behind," he added.
Asean is the world's fifth largest economy after the United States, China, Japan and Germany.
It is also the third largest regional economy in Asia.
Asean is home to about 70 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
