KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today praised the energy conference between South-east Asian energy ministers as “the most substantive.”
Anwar said the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) had achieved key outcomes from its decades-long regional energy policy, citing the swift endorsement of a multilateral agreement that enabled complex transborder energy supply projects.
“These meetings come at a pivotal moment as the global energy landscape shifts under the pressure of decarbonisation, supply security and affordability,” Anwar said during his keynote address at the 43rd Asean Ministers of Energy meeting here.
“For Asean, home to 680 million people, despite the uncertainties brought by tariffs, it is still one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. This must be managed responsibly, and this year we have achieved key outcomes for the energy sector,” he added.
The 10-member bloc is targeting the first multilateral power trade by 2030 under the Asean Power Grid (APG), according to Asean Centre for Energy executive director Datuk Razib Dawood.
From this year’s summit, member states have agreed to adopt phase one of the Asean Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation and endorsed the “enhanced” Memorandum of Understanding of the Asean Power Grid.
Launched in 1999, the APG is a key regional energy policy aimed at interconnecting South-east Asian national power systems, enhancing energy security, and making power affordable and sustainable by developing a framework for cross-border electricity trade.
Anwar said the grid is a major infrastructure project needed to support economic growth, create jobs, and help keep businesses and manufacturers competitive by ensuring reliable and affordable power.
Projects like the Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project serve as “pathfinders” for the larger vision.
