KUALA LUMPUR: Asean member countries are positioned to trade across a wide geopolitical spectrum, with Malaysia playing a key role as a global connector to different countries such as China, said Rafizi Ramli.
The economy minister, in his speech at the Malaysia-China Summit today, said Asean and China were each other's top trading partners, with both experiencing increased growth over the past decade.
"Malaysia will continue to double down on our open collaboration approach with other countries. This, however, does not come from a simplistic notion of being friendly and working with everyone.
"It comes from fundamental principles that guide policymakers in how we deal with the world, and our relationship with economies like China serves as a benchmark."
He said working with China on innovation remained essential for Southeast Asia to become an innovative consumption powerhouse, with the middle-class population projected to reach 250 million people in two decades.
Rafizi added that the second principle was being a good neighbour, focusing on shared interests to maintain peace and prosperity across the region.
This, he said, had contributed to Southeast Asia becoming the most traded region globally, both within Asean and with other regions.
"Importantly, the good neighbour policy is not just a feel-good, moral principle, but actually an economically strategic one.
"The Johor Singapore Special Economic Zone, scheduled to be signed in January 2025, proves that we can maintain healthy competition while cooperating in complementary areas because we believe good neighbours can help grow the pie bigger.
"The semiconductor and renewable energy supply chain is another example. Your neighbour's efficiency is good for you, and the closer and better your neighbours become, the more resilient your supply chain will be in the long run."
He added that China is a geographically close neighbour, as well as a country with shared historical, cultural, and even kinship ties to Malaysia.
"I think it is important that my presence here reaffirms that the relationship between China and Malaysia, and Asean as a whole, goes beyond trade and economic dollars and cents.
"It has been built over the years and it is a natural result of the cultural and historical kinship that we share."