Secure digital services, particularly in cross-border payments and financial services, will help build consumer confidence across the region, boost participation in the digital economy, and mitigate losses from cybercrime, Ong Tee Keat, president of the Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia Pacific, said in his remarks at the forum “Unpacking the emerging challenges in […]
IN Rio de Janeiro this week, history quietly unfolded as Malaysia made its debut as a BRICS Partner Country. As the current Chair of ASEAN, Malaysia’s arrival at the summit carried added weight, marking a new chapter not only in its foreign policy posture but also in the evolving role of the Global South. The […]
The second episode of the “Malaysia’s ASEAN Moment” podcast series dives into the South China Sea. Featuring guest speaker Assoc Prof Ngeow Chow Bing from the Institute of China Studies, Universiti Malaya, the discussion reveals Malaysia’s point of view in the disputed waters. Is Malaysia doing enough to support its ASEAN member states? Can we […]
Dr Yanitha Meena Louis was quoted by The Star on 21 May 2025. By GERARD GIMINO Among them is Amirul Asyraf Aliam, who suggested that internships or training programmes be offered within Asean organisations to give the youth hands-on policy experience. “Social media polls and campaigns can also be a useful tool to listen to the […]
As Malaysia assumes the ASEAN chair in 2025, ISIS Malaysia brings you a podcast series diving into Malaysia’s approach and priorities from a policy perspective. Our first episode features special guest Prof Kuik Cheng Chwee from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Discussions include Malaysia’s legacies as ASEAN chair, the role of ASEAN-led multilateralism, and the ASEAN-GCC-China […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
