<figure id="attachment_3194565" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3194565" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3194565 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/d9f94104-anwar-marcos-fmt-281025-1.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3194565" class="wp-caption-text">Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr receiving the Asean chairmanship gavel from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the closing ceremony of the 47th Asean Summit and Related Summits in Kuala Lumpur, on Oct 28.</figcaption></figure>
KUALA LUMPUR: As the Philippines takes over the Asean chairmanship, analysts say continuity and sustained momentum will be vital to safeguarding the region’s peace and prosperity.
Faiz Abdullah, chairman of Malaysia’s Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), cautioned against letting Malaysia’s recent diplomatic breakthroughs fade.
He highlighted the first-ever Asean–Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)–China trilateral summit, which he said could redefine regional cooperation and development if its progress was maintained.
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“You have a combination of dynamic forces at play. Asean and the GCC are already formidable, and with China in the picture, there’s a lot more depth,” he said in ISIS Malaysia’s Asean Moment podcast.
“China is technologically advanced and its financial infrastructure complements the GCC’s deep resources,” he said.
Veteran diplomat Ilango Karuppannan, meanwhile, told FMT that the Philippines should build on Malaysia’s progress in addressing the South China Sea and Myanmar issues.
Ilango, Malaysia’s former high commissioner to Singapore, said the issues must be handled within an Asean framework, free from interference by external powers.
“The Philippines has a major role to play. It won’t be easy, but Malaysia and the others are ready to help,” he said, noting that Malaysia remains the Asean–China relations coordinator from 2024 to 2027.
On Myanmar, Ilango stressed that Asean’s special envoy to the war-torn nation should serve for more than a year.
Under Asean’s rotating chairmanship, each new chair appoints its own special envoy to mediate between Myanmar’s warring factions and coordinate the implementation of the bloc’s five-point consensus peace framework. Under Malaysia’s chairmanship, Asean has been exploring the idea of appointing a permanent envoy.
“Perhaps under the Philippines, we could agree to have a permanent envoy. Someone who serves for several years and provides continuity,” Ilango said.
Faiz agreed, saying a permanent envoy would be crucial for progress.
“Just as things begin to settle (after a year), the envoy is replaced by someone new,” he said.
“Continuity is a major issue. Resolving that should be one of the Philippines’ key priorities.”
Realising potential
Joanne Lin, senior fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, agreed that Malaysia’s chairmanship was “ambitious” and had delivered major milestones.
However, she noted that many initiatives remained incomplete and required sustained effort by successive Asean chairs.
“The Asean Geo-Economic Task Force and Industrial Strategy were important steps, but they’re still at a conceptual stage,” she said.
“Greater follow-through is needed to operationalise them through sectoral roadmaps, funding mechanisms, and private sector engagement.”
Lin told FMT that Manila could also strengthen Asean’s collective voice on key economic issues.
“Asean still struggles to communicate a cohesive position on emerging trade and technology issues, especially in response to US tariffs and China’s evolving industrial policies,” she said.
“The Philippines could build on this by pushing for a more actionable blueprint. Perhaps an Asean semiconductor roadmap or digital infrastructure fund to move the region from coordination to execution.”
She said Manila could also play a stronger political role as Asean’s cautious diplomacy had ensured unity, but often at the cost of momentum.
Room for improvement
While experts praised Malaysia’s deft use of soft power and strategic leadership during challenging geopolitical and economic times, both Faiz and Lin pointed to areas that could have been handled better.
Faiz lamented the lack of progress in revitalising the East Asia Summit, calling it “a Jurassic institution” that had devolved into scripted speeches with little strategic engagement.
“There’s no real will or proper agenda to see specific things done,” he said, adding that the absence of top-level attendees and the US-China rivalry had made consensus difficult.
Lin, meanwhile, said the recent unrest in Indonesia, the Thai-Cambodia border dispute, and Asean’s slow response to Myanmar’s crisis risked undermining the bloc’s legitimacy in the eyes of ordinary citizens.
“It shows how far Asean still is from achieving its own aspirations, as outlined in the Asean Community Vision 2045,” she said.
Lin added that Asean’s perception of being more focused on diplomacy than on people’s welfare remained a challenge.
“To restore confidence, Asean needs to make its people-centred agenda more tangible by investing in inclusive growth, which was the theme of Malaysia’s chairmanship,” she said.
“It also means closing the communication gap so that citizens can see how Asean cooperation directly supports jobs, education, and community resilience.
&#8220;At the end of the day, that’s what truly matters to the people of Asean.”

MatchPoint Times

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