ASEAN needs High-Level Commission to make effective decisions on socio-economic matters

He said the commission, which could be permanent or on an ad hoc basis, should enable regional leaders to make binding decisions, at least on socio-economic and emergency matters, so that the grouping can move forward.

This, Munir said, could be among the major tasks ahead for Malaysia when it takes over the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2025, more so with ASEAN still lacking an effective and binding decision-making coordinating body despite being formed in 1967.

He lamented that during the Covid-19 pandemic, there was no coordination between leaders in purchasing vaccines as a group, leading to countries buying them separately and many lacking vaccines.

"We made a proposal in 2020 for the setting up of an ASEAN high-level commission to make emergency decisions during the height of the crisis, but the leaders don't meet when a crisis hits," he said when moderating a discussion on the expectations of Malaysia's upcoming chairmanship of ASEAN organised by the ASEAN Business Club.

Other panellists at the discussion were Japan's Ambassador to Malaysia Takahashi Katsuhiko, Kuala Lumpur Business Club (KLBC) Deputy President Datuk Fad'l Mohamed, and the United States Ambassador to Malaysia Edgard Kagan.

Kagan amplified these remarks, saying such a high-level decision-making body speaking for ASEAN was vital, for instance, if the grouping was serious about gaining membership in the Group of 20 (G-20) countries.

An influential and powerful group, the G20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU).

It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development, and Indonesia is a member of the grouping.

Like how the EU was aggressive in wanting to be admitted into G20, Kagan said ASEAN should achieve a consensus and similarly clearly make its collective voice known to join up.

He said Washington was confident that over the next 30 years, India and ASEAN will play the economic role "as the largest single drivers of global growth" China has played in the last three years.

"And if the US wants to be effective in the region, we need to be engaged and effective with ASEAN," he said.

Katsuhiko said Japan will work with Malaysia's chairmanship to pursue greater geopolitical cooperation, digitalisation and climate change because "ASEAN cannot do everything alone" to achieve ASEAN economic integration.

He also said that a survey shows more than 80 per cent of Japanese companies in Malaysia want to continue doing business in the country.

To this end, both countries have agreed to support each other in enhancing the semiconductor business and undertaking projects in the digital economy, he said.

Katsuhiko said Tokyo was preparing some government funding and pushing Japanese companies, which could contribute to strengthening the resilience of the supply chain in Malaysia and, in the process, overcome global supply chain restrictions.

KLBC's Fad'l Mohamed lamented the proliferation of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) coming through and regulations against economies across the region.

When Malaysia is the ASEAN chair, NTBs, which he described as "low hanging fruit," are something the grouping could work on to lower or eliminate to push economic and financial integration, said Fad'l, who is also the managing director of RHB Bank wholesale banking.

Nevertheless, he lauded efforts in the regional sustainable finance space where "there has been a lot of effort put in, in terms of finding levels of harmonisation."

"There's a sustainable finance working group out there within ASEAN that has developed clear taxonomies standards amongst member countries," he said, adding that seamless payments systems across countries in ASEAN were a clear case in point of financial integration.

Fad'l added that an advantage for Malaysia in assuming the chairmanship is that "we're not starting from ground zero; we can actually leverage on some of the (economic) efforts put within the ASEAN working groups, particularly on the financial side."

Munir said, "Given the geopolitical situation today, it warrants us to start thinking a lot more from a collective block, particularly after 57 years and based on ASEAN's regional economic strength."

In an apparent reference to the economic fallout from the Russian-Ukraine war, he said geopolitical events clearly impact risk premiums (and) commodity prices, which translate into the (higher) cost of living in the various ASEAN countries, and this will require collective action to deal with.