ASEAN members should focus on sustainable development as a group - Economist

Jeffrey D Sachs, a world-renowned economics professor at Columbia University, said the new economy aims to be environmentally sustainable.

He said this is characterised by the transformation of the energy system to rely on low- or zero-carbon technologies, the transformation of the transport system -- especially automobiles to electric vehicles, the shift in the shipping industry toward a hydrogen-based economy, and a massive dose of digital transformation.

"So, that is the sustainable development trajectory. My suggestion is that doing this as a group within ASEAN, rather than one country at a time, is going to be more effective because, as a group, the ASEAN countries have a large market.

"They will generate more investment opportunities. They will use the connectivity of transportation, power and digital to enhance regional competitiveness," Sachs told Bernama on the sidelines of the ASEAN Workshop on Sustainable Development (AWSD) 2025 here today.

With Malaysia's chairmanship of ASEAN this year, Sachs hoped that ASEAN really put forward clear approaches to regional connectivity and strategies for a green, digital, artificial intelligence-empowered future economy.

He posited that this is partly attributable to ASEAN's strong interconnections with China and trade with the rest of the world, including the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Latin America.

"So, I think there is a lot of diplomacy ahead that is extremely important, where regional agreements between ASEAN and these other parts of the world are achieved.

"There will be these regional summits during the year, with the Middle East, for example, and ASEAN, and I think this is very promising," he said.

Sachs was confident this could be accomplished but reminded that these changes would not be completed in a year or two as they are a long-term investment.

"You have to build fast rail, you have to build digital transmission, you have to build zero carbon energy systems.

"So, this is not from one year to the next, but it means longer-term planning, financing and cooperation," he said.

Meanwhile, Sachs also saw the BRICS group as an important dynamic that could address some practical issues, including whether the world becomes too protectionist or the United States (US) becomes too aggressive in its threats to other countries.

"Well, the BRICS is a group that has about 40 per cent of the world's gross domestic product, with China and India being very fast-growing (big economies).

"Part of the intention of the BRICS is also to create an alternative to the dollar-based finance system, in case the US tries to impose sanctions or barriers to countries not to trade with each other," he said.

He said that the BRICS aims to ensure that trade and investment proceed without interruption, and the group is an excellent group to be part of.

"ASEAN is a good home for Malaysia, but the fact that Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia are all now (part of BRICS), BRICS membership (would be) another important avenue for Malaysia's development," he added.

-- BERNAMA