27-05-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Kuala Lumpur Declaration charts Asean's future path
Iylia Marsya Iskandar, Qistina Sallehuddin
KUALA LUMPUR: Asean leaders aim to adopt nine commitments under the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, including the continued pursuit of peace, security, and development in the region.
According to Wisma Putra, other commitments in the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Asean 2045: Our Shared Future include ensuring that the Asean Community continues to thrive and remains adaptive and responsive to the impacts and inherent opportunities of existing and future megatrends.
The leaders also agreed to strengthen efforts to uphold Asean Centrality and to maintain an Asean-centred, open, inclusive, transparent, resilient, and rules-based regional architecture that upholds international law, including through Asean-led mechanisms.
They reaffirmed their commitment to deepening and broadening cooperation with Asean's external partners, and to exploring cooperation with other interested parties through substantive, practical, and tangible collaboration on the four priority areas of the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), via Asean-led mechanisms.
The leaders also pledged to ensure Asean's continued progress by reinforcing adherence to shared principles and commitments, strengthening institutional mechanisms, enhancing cross-pillar and cross-sectoral coordination, and proactively responding to challenges and opportunities.
They reaffirmed their commitment to deepening economic integration, with the goal of becoming a single and future-ready economy that is nimble and resilient, anchored in sustainable growth and good governance. The vision includes building a globally competitive and seamlessly integrated single market by leveraging opportunities in the digital, green, and blue economies.
Efforts will also be redoubled to enhance Asean connectivity, including advancing the Asean Power Grid, energy interconnection and multilateral power trade, and narrowing development gaps through inclusive, participatory, and equitable access to economic and socio-cultural opportunities.
The leaders agreed to foster a stronger Asean identity and promote greater people-to-people connectivity through education, cultural exchanges, and social cooperation.
They also committed to improving the quality of life and well-being of Asean peoples, ensuring no one is left behind. This includes strengthening social protection, enhancing health and nutrition, promoting inclusive and sustainable development, and advancing quality education and skills development for a future-ready Asean workforce.
Finally, they agreed to continue integrating lessons learned from the implementation of Asean 2025: Forging Ahead Together as the region embarks on the next phase—realising Asean 2045: Our Shared Future—to effectively advance Asean Community-building over the next 20 years.
