KUALA LUMPUR: As Asean chair for 2025, Malaysia will make a significant impact by hosting member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Plus China, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said this would be the first time Asean will host a conference with the 10 Asean countries and the GCC, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, along with China.
"This will be a starting point for Asean when it takes place next year.
"We will also continue meetings with the bloc's dialogue partners including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union and the United States."
Anwar said this during Prime Minister's Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today, in a response to a question from Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari (PH-Gombak).
Amirudin also asked if Asean had plans to ease immigration borders to enhance the bloc's potential.
To this, Anwar explained that such measures could not be implemented at this time.
"Asean's focus is on economic growth. We don't want Asean to become a battleground for the competition of major powers.
"Will there be an immigration network like that in the EU? I don't think it will happen anytime soon, but improvements in energy grid connectivity have already been agreed upon.
"This means that two fundamental aspects of strengthening Asean's interconnectedness are through digital integration and energy grids," he said.
Meanwhile, Anwar, who is also finance minister, said all states in Malaysia would be involved in Asean meetings next year.
He said this was to ensure that no state would be left behind in reaping the economic benefits of Malaysia's status as Asean chair.
"Apart from the main meetings of leaders in Kuala Lumpur, we also agreed that all other meetings involving ministers, such as foreign ministers and economic ministers' meetings, will be held in all states in Peninsular Malaysia and in Sabah and Sarawak.
"I have also decided that because states such as Perlis or Kelantan do not have the capacity to host, we will try to arrange discussions at Asean officials' level or at least hold visits to these states to ensure that no state is left behind.