ASEAN centrality in the Eastern Economic Forum 2024
By Hugo Santos
The Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) has hosted huge ASEAN delegations in the past three years despite the attempted isolation of the West and their allies, this year marked the ninth EEF this is Russia’s annual forum focused on the Far East. The main event in the Forum is the Plenary session which includes the speech of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This year’s special guests include Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, China has sent high level delegations in EEF every year as Moscow and Beijing’s ties grow closer. Within the framework of the annual EEF conference there is a separate dialogue for Russia-China and Russia-ASEAN to improve ties between Russia and the Far East regions.
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Malaysia has one of the biggest delegations for this year’s EEF, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim heads the Malaysian delegation for the whole duration of the forum filled with meetings and activities during the sidelines of the forum. Malaysia under the administration of Mr. Ibrahim wants to position itself as a neutrally independent country that follows its national interests which is a tradition for most ASEAN states. Mr. Ibrahim also expressed his intention to include Malaysia a member of BRICS which the Prime Minister mentioned after his recent visit to India and with the visit to Russia this presents his efforts the growing interest to be a BRICS member. Mr. Ibrahim highlighted the importance of Russia as a dialogue partner of ASEAN as well as Kuala Lumpur’s key trading partner in the region. Muslim-majority countries in Asia such as Malaysia and Indonesia are cozying up with Moscow because of its Islamic-friendly policy towards Muslim states, Mr. Ibrahim is the second ASEAN leader to visit Russia in less than six months as Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto visited Moscow in July.
Mr. Ibrahim was one of the keynote speakers in the plenary session along with Mr. Putin and Mr. Han Zheng. During the plenary session the Prime Minister made it very clear that he does not want to make the Southeast Asian region to be a battleground for superpowers when he said that the situation in the South China Sea was very alarming while mentioning the situation in the Philippines, while Malaysia is also a claimant the Prime Minister recognizes that they have to secure economic advantage in the sea (i.e., drilling oil) while having an open dialogue with China, this is a testament of Kuala Lumpur’s non-aligned foreign policy which the literal meaning of “Friends to all, Enemy to none”. Prime Minister Anwar also mentioned during the plenary that Manila should be very delicate with the situation and they should be more open to dialogue despite being a treaty ally of the United States. According to the Prime Minister it’s important that to talk to the Philippines especially with handling the disputed waters.
Malaysia positions itself as a mediator in the region while being neutral to all global powers despite the possibility of pressure and secondary sanctions, national interest is a key priority for Kuala Lumpur especially for its economic interests. Malaysia wants to diversity its developing market though high-level economic forums such as the EEF this was made clear as he was also in the Qatar Economic forum this year. The Prime Minister invited the Russian President to Malaysia next year as it is the host for ASEAN in 2025.
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