Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called for a “fiercely independent ASEAN” on Tuesday, as leaders from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and China gathered in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur for a series of high-level summits.
Regional leaders are meeting after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened draconian tariffs on export-reliant Southeast Asian economies like Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia unless they come to the table offering concessions. Those tariffs are now paused until early July as trading partners rush to negotiate trade agreements with Washington.
As chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Malaysia has tried to pull together a united front against Trump tariffs, but that has proved tricky. Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand—among the worst-hit countries from Trump tariffs—are already trying to offer concessions to Washington. Other countries like the Philippines meanwhile see a potential advantage from lower tariff rates.
“What is important is a cohesive, strong, fiercely independent ASEAN, that would confirm our position of centrality, that would decide to act to protect our interests,” Anwar told delegates at Fortune’s ASEAN-GCC-China Economic Forum, held on May 27 alongside a Malaysia-hosted trilateral summit among leaders from the three regions.
The prime minister said the event helped affirm ASEAN’s position of “effective engagement, focusing on economic fundamentals and ensuring that we do whatever is necessary to promote growth.”
ASEAN, founded in 1967, has often succeeded at providing a space for discussion and consensus-building among its members. Yet the bloc, which requires unanimous consent for most decisions, has sometimes struggled to reach an agreement on divisive or contentious issues.
A series of summits
Anwar’s remarks came after a series of summits in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, among the 10 countries of ASEAN, the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and China.
It’s the second time the Southeast Asian bloc has held a high-level summit with the GCC, and the first that has included China in a new trilateral summit.
The summits come as U.S. tariffs threaten to upend a decades-old global trading order. Southeast Asia in particular has benefited from companies shifting their supply chains away from China under what has come to be known as the “China plus one” strategy.
Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia now help with final assembly for U.S.-bound products like apparel and electronics, thus avoiding potential tariffs on China-made goods.
Yet surging trade surpluses with the U.S. led to threats of high so-called reciprocal tariffs by President Trump. Vietnam and Cambodia, two beneficiaries of supply-chain diversification, face potential import duties of 46% and 49%, respectively.
On Tuesday, Anwar said that he had personally written to Trump to help organize a meeting with Southeast Asian leaders. “A transition in the geopolitical order is underway, and the global trading system is under further strain,” Anwar said in opening remarks to other Southeast Asian leaders.
Geopolitical hedging
Countries and regional blocs are starting to hedge their geopolitical risk amid rising uncertainty over the Trump administration’s policy agenda, even among governments that rely on the U.S. for security.
The GCC in particular is steadily increasing its ties with Asia in search of new investment opportunities.
“The GCC’s pivot to the East isn’t about abandoning the U.S., but about diversifying its economic partnerships in Asia. Especially China, India, and ASEAN are driving global energy demand and investment growth, so Gulf states see strategic value in deepening ties with the region,” Joanne Lin, senior fellow and co-coordinator of the ASEAN Studies Centre at the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, previously told Fortune.
On Tuesday, as part of the bilateral meeting between ASEAN and GCC leaders, officials agreed to start free trade negotiations between the two blocs. Malaysia will also pursue its own free trade agreement with the GCC.
At the Fortune ASEAN-GCC-China Economic Forum, Anwar called the GCC the “dynamo of the Middle East,” and praised its “extremely courageous venture [in] new technology, digitalization, and AI.”
Countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are embarking on an ambitious effort to transition away from a reliance on fossil fuels, investing in new industries like tourism, finance, and AI.
Malaysia’s prime minister also praised China, which sent its No. 2 official, Premier Li Qiang, to meetings in Malaysia.
“China is an important neighbor of ours,” Anwar said. “China has shown that they are prepared to work for peace and development of the region and the world.”
Malaysia’s prime minister called on the business community to do more to build ties among Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and China.
“The business community, the corporate players, the captains of industry have to seize the moment and do what is necessary,” he said.
“We want to see results.”
