My Say: Asean’s future lies in its own hands
In The Great Convergence, Richard Baldwin argues that revolutionary advances in information and communication technology (ICT) transformed globalisation in the 1990s with an economic logic only a few could fathom. In any event, the winds of change heralded the prospect of a high tech-low wages combo that drove accelerated growth in global trade as well […]
How Malaysia could take the lead in ASEAN AI Safe
At the ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting (ADGMIN) 2025 in Bangkok, Digital Minister Gobind Singh announced Malaysia’s championing of AI deployment safety through its lead on establishing an ASEAN AI Safety Network (ASEAN AI Safe). The network aims to promote AI safety research, responsible AI adoption and harmonised standards across ASEAN, a region whose digital economy […]
My Say: A new vision of Asean integration
Six decades on, the Asean that Malaysia is inheriting as chair this year is a vastly different entity. Indeed, Asean has proved to be one of the fastest-growing regions over the last half-century, with the bloc now the fifth-largest economy in the world. But it is not just economic size that makes Asean matter. It […]
Agreement on Reciprocal Trade: Understanding Malaysia’s sovereign choices
Contentions based on fundamentally erroneous premises may appear sound, even cogent, at first blush but when examined more closely, do not have a leg to stand on. This goes for the spate of criticisms coming from detractors on the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), signed recently between Malaysia and the United States. In panning the deal, […]
My Say: Malaysia’s values-driven Asean chairmanship
Titled “Inclusivity and Sustainability”, Malaysia’s theme is as simple as it is symbolic. By opting to underscore its chairmanship with values rather than the typical slogans, it reflects the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim administration’s style of principles-driven leadership: forceful and robust, substantive and persuasive. As with the Madani values domestically, this opting of […]
