Asean-GCC-China: Building a resilient trilateral trade architecture

IF procrastination is the thief of time, then pussyfooting around the Asean-GCC (Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf)-China Summit agenda might well be wanton heedlessness! Indeed, Asean must lead, not wait, because Malaysia is well positioned to set that agenda.

While the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Asean 2045 outlines an ambitious vision – a developed Asean that is the epicentre of growth in the Indo-Pacific – this aspiration won’t come to pass in isolation. As Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said, Asean’s journey “is a story of cooperation across borders, dialogue across difference and hope across generations.”