Southeast Asian leaders today adopted the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Asean Community Vision 2045, a roadmap that lays out its vision for the next two decades of integration in the face of growing global trade uncertainty and intensifying geopolitical tensions.
Dubbed as “Asean 2045: Our Shared Vision”, the declaration was signed during the 46th Asean Summit here today.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, as Asean chair, said international order today is increasingly unsettled, with geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation, climate and technological disruption testing the bonds between nations.
“Yet these same technologies carry risks. Left unmanaged, they may deepen inequality, displace livelihoods, and outspace our rules.
“We must not only embrace innovation, we must learn to govern it together and with care,” he said in his address.
Describing the new vision as “a shared blueprint”, Anwar said it was “anchored in realism, animated by resolve, and made possible by trust”.
“And as we turn this page, we renew our promise – to our peoples, to our region, and to the generations yet to rise.
“Let us move forward with clarity in our vision, steadiness in our purpose, and unity in our will to build the Asean we want to hand to future generations.”
The original KL Declaration, signed in 2015 during Malaysia’s previous chairmanship, had laid the foundation for the Asean Community Vision 2025.
That has served as a key policy document guiding cooperation across the bloc’s three pillars: political-security, economic, and socio-cultural.
