KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim describes the organisation of the first-ever Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-China Summit, set to take place on Tuesday (May 27), as a success in reshaping collaboration patterns in line with the reality of today's multipolar world.
The Prime Minister's senior press secretary Tunku Nashrul Abaidah said that this trilateral summit symbolises the strength of regional bloc unity and is expected to have a positive impact on the world as a whole.
"Today sees a major focus on strengthening Asean cooperation with strategic partners through the hosting of the 2nd Asean-GCC Summit and the inaugural Asean-GCC-China trilateral summit.
"Both summits will discuss concrete steps to expand cooperation in trade, investment, and sustainable development, in line with Asean’s aspiration to play a larger role in the Indo-Pacific geoeconomic landscape," he said.
He made these remarks during the Daily Briefing of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), which was broadcast via the Facebook pages of Anwar Ibrahim and PMO Malaysia on Tuesday.
For the record, the combined economic scale of Asean, GCC, and China now reaches nearly US$25 trillion (RM104 trillion), with a population exceeding two billion people.
Asean is currently the world's fifth-largest economy with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$3.8 trillion (RM15.9 trillion), while China remains Asean's largest trading partner with bilateral trade amounting to US$696.7bil (RM2.9 trillion).
Tunku Nashrul noted that besides these two summits, Tuesday's agenda also includes the 16th East Asean Growth Area-Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines (BIMP-EAGA) Summit and the 16th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Summit.
He said both of these summits will streamline subregional development agendas and strengthen cross-border connectivity among the involved countries.
All these summits are part of the events organised in conjunction with the 46th Asean Summit. – Bernama
