KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has described the signing and adoption of the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Asean 2045: Our Shared Future as a defining chapter in Asean's journey of regional integration.
Stressing that Asean's future must rest on "foundations of sustainability and inclusion," Anwar said regional integration must be genuinely people-centred.
"That means closing development gaps, raising standards of living and investing in the human spirit and potential of all our citizens," he said in his speech before the signing of the "Asean 2045: Our Shared Future" at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here on Monday (May 26).
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The declaration, endorsed during the 46th Asean Summit here, represents a significant milestone in the bloc's commitment to building a more resilient, innovative, dynamic and people-centred regional community.
The new vision will succeed the current Asean 2025: Forging Ahead Together vision, which was adopted in 2015.
The document was signed by Anwar, as Asean Chair, along with the leaders of 10 Asean member states, namely President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr of the Philippines, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, Prime Minister Hun Manet of Cambodia, President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia, Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone of Laos, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong of Singapore, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra of Thailand, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh of Vietnam and the Permanent Secretary of Myanmar's Foreign Ministry, Aung Kyaw Moe.
Also on the stage was Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao of Timor-Leste, as the country was granted observer status in Asean in 2022.
Among those who witnessed the singing ceremony were the Malaysian Deputy Prime Ministers Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof; Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan; Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz and Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.
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Anwar said the shared blueprint outlined in the Kuala Lumpur Declaration was a vision anchored in realism, animated by resolve and made possible by trust.
"As we turn this page, we renew our promise to our peoples, to our region and to the generations yet to rise.
"Let us move forward with clarity in our vision, steadiness in our purpose and unity in our will to build the Asean we owe to the future generations," he said.
Quoting the Asean founding declaration in 1967, Anwar said the bloc's founding members pledged to "bind themselves together in friendship and cooperation and, through joint efforts and sacrifices, secure for their peoples and for posterity the blessings of peace, freedom and prosperity.
"Today, we renew that solemn promise – not as a tribute to the past, but as a living covenant with the future," he said.
Anwar noted that it is often said that the best way to predict the future is to create it, and that is what Asean has sought to do – through decades of steady effort, shared stewardship and strategic vision.
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The Prime Minister also expressed deep appreciation to all parties who contributed to shaping the Asean 2045 vision, saying it was achieved through persistence, pragmatism and the quiet power of regional trust.
Anwar recalled that just a decade ago, Asean launched the Asean Community Vision 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, reaffirming the bloc's role as an anchor of stability and a rising centre of economic gravity.
"But today, the international order is unsettled. Geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation, climate and technological disruption are testing the bonds between nations," he cautioned.
Anwar said the years ahead would be defined by revolutions in technology and science.
"Our ability to lead, in artificial intelligence, digital innovation and the green and blue economies, will determine not just our prosperity, but our cohesion," he said.
However, he warned of the risks posed by the same technologies.
"Left unmanaged, they may deepen inequality, displace livelihoods and outpace our rules. We must not only embrace innovation, we must learn to govern it, together, and with care," he added. – Bernama
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