Speaking at the World Economic Forum 2025 on Jan 22, United Nations Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar Julie Bishop said Malaysia’s chairmanship of Asean this year offers hope for mitigating the longstanding crisis in Myanmar.
Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the country aims to prioritise energy and connectivity among Asean members as well as engaging with major global powers while safeguarding the bloc’s independence.
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Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the country aims to prioritise energy and connectivity among Asean members as well as engaging with major global powers while safeguarding the bloc’s independence.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/4vwessc4
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
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NewsTranscript
00:00Welcome to the panel, ASEAN, Even Stronger Together.
00:13We have built that consensus not to just use this forum.
00:19ASEAN is just for diplomatic and peaceful resolution, which is very critical.
00:25I think we have passed that.
00:26Even in the more contentious issue like Myanmar, we have that consensus to reach an agreement through a five-point consensus.
00:35We are working towards it. I think Julie will probably highlight that a bit.
00:39But then, for this year, the understanding or the consensus is to focus first on energy, ASEAN energy grid.
00:50Grid, alternative technology, energy that covers the whole of former Indochina, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines,
01:02including the undersea cable from Sarawak.
01:06Then second is connectivity, digital, includes AI.
01:11So the region is now focusing on this issue so that there is better understanding between these countries.
01:17But again, the fundamentals still remain economic.
01:21People say, of course, they are contending forces, competing among ourselves.
01:26Not necessarily so because we share and I think there's enough of interest into the region,
01:35Malaysia and the region generally being attractive.
01:39We are more concerned also about the principle of inclusivity.
01:44You need to be sustainable, but you need to be inclusive.
01:46We tend to engage and form a policy that will benefit one another.
01:52Because if you do not cater for that, then there will not be peace and tranquility among neighbours, as you have seen in the case of Myanmar.
02:02We are able to engage and navigate, of course, more precarious.
02:07The problem is not our problem, it is forced upon us and we should not be compelled to take positions against anyone.
02:20Myanmar is a member of ASEAN.
02:23It is strategically positioned with China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Laos as neighbours.
02:30It is resource rich.
02:32It has a young, educated population, but it has a very long history of internal conflict.
02:40In 2014, for example, Myanmar hosted the ASEAN Regional Forum in Naypyidaw.
02:48The world was very optimistic that Myanmar was transitioning from a military to a civilian government.
02:57Foreign direct investment flooded in.
02:59We, the international community, expected it to transition into one of those superpowers of ASEAN.
03:09ASEAN did step up to the mark and held a summit and came up with, as Prime Minister Ibrahim said, a five-point consensus plan as a way forward.
03:19As a result of the military takeover, hostilities broke out across the country.
03:24Ethnic armed organisations became very well organised, very well armed.
03:30The internal conflict and the subsequent humanitarian disaster has only escalated as territorial gains and losses on the battlefield dictate what is happening to the community.
03:44It is frustrating that the five-point consensus plan has not been implemented in a way or at a scale and a speed that we would wish.
03:55The situation in Myanmar is deteriorating.
03:58But I do see a light at the end of the tunnel with Malaysia's chairmanship of ASEAN and their new special envoy,
04:07a commitment that we will work together and an understanding of all of the voices in Myanmar
04:14that the humanitarian situation has gone on far too long, the violence and fighting must stop,
04:23the transnational crime that is flourishing in the vacuum must be brought under control
04:28and that only ASEAN and the United Nations and well-meaning neighbours will be able to influence that outcome.