ASEAN is not waiting for the world to change; it is shaping it, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Utama Tengku Zafrul Aziz said, while urging global business leaders to view the region as a “collective of possibilities” and a powerful engine for inclusive growth.
Speaking at the Bloomberg Business Summit @ ASEAN 2025, Tengku Zafrul said the forum, held under Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship, underscored the bloc’s resilience and rising relevance in a shifting global landscape.
“ASEAN, with its 680 million people, dynamic economies and boundless digital energy, is no longer just a growth story; we are the story,” he said, adding that Malaysia’s leadership would be defined by “courage, clarity and conviction.”
He highlighted that sustainability, technology and smart capital are now the key pillars shaping ASEAN’s future.
ESG, he said, has evolved “from compliance to impact” and is now a driver of investment, innovation and competitiveness, a shift Malaysia is embracing through its Green Investment Strategy, National Energy Transition Roadmap and New Industrial Master Plan 2030.
The minister also called on the private sector to push beyond net-zero commitments toward “net-positive outcomes”, leveraging partnerships to deliver both ethical and profitable sustainability.
On the technology front, Tengku Zafrul said ASEAN must become a co-creator of innovation, not a passive consumer, citing Malaysia’s progress through initiatives such as the Malaysia-China AI Innovation Centre and ASEAN’s upcoming Digital Economy Framework Agreement.
“Digital infrastructure like data centres, connectivity and digital identity are not just enablers. They are instruments of sovereignty, trust and long-term competitiveness,” he said.
He further noted that ASEAN’s transformation will depend on “smarter, more catalytic capital”, with public-private partnerships and green finance acting as key engines of inclusive growth.
“We invite global investors to see ASEAN not just as a destination for returns, but as a partner in building shared prosperity with purpose,” Tengku Zafrul said.
As Malaysia leads ASEAN under the theme of “Inclusivity and Sustainability”, Tengku Zafrul reaffirmed the region’s commitment to collaboration over competition.
“To the business leaders, thinkers and innovators gathered here, let’s see ASEAN not as a patchwork of markets but as a collective of possibilities,” he said, while stressing that when ASEAN prospers, the world follows.
Source: https://www.businesstoday.com.my/2025/10/27/business-leaders-invited-to-see-asean-as-a-collective-of-possibilities/