BRICS and the Global South’s new chapter: A Malaysian reflection from Rio

As the city welcomed leaders for the BRICS Summit, a fresh voice entered the conversation: Malaysia, a newly engaged BRICS Partner Country and current Chair of ASEAN.

It wasn't just the setting that was momentous. The substance, too, defied expectations.

Moments after touching down, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was ushered on stage alongside Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to open the BRICS Business Forum. What followed was not the usual speech-reading routine of international summits.

Speaking with conviction, Anwar eschewed prepared remarks in favour of an unadorned, impassioned message that electrified the room and drew thunderous, sustained applause.

True to form as a seasoned statesman, the Prime Minister delivered an address that was personal and relatable, lucid and uplifting, thanks not just to his oratorical skills, but also to his political astuteness.

Anwar connected with the audience - not through theatrics but through sincerity. His words, sharp and confident, resonated deeply with the hundreds in attendance in the hall packed to the brim. This was not just Malaysia's debut on the BRICS stage; it was an overture with a statement of intent on what's in the offing for the strategic symphony going forward.

At the core of the Prime Minister's speech was a simple truth: the developing world can no longer be seen as peripheral players in a system built elsewhere. We are not relics of post-colonial history. We are rising powers in our own right, armed with moral capital, technological capacity, and economic ambition.

This was a forceful expression of global reform. Anwar did not merely speak for Malaysia and ASEAN. He articulated for the Global South its pursuit of a more equitable, responsive and plural future.

There was particular praise for President Lula, whose principled leadership has steered BRICS beyond rhetoric into something more consequential: a coalition with real potential to influence global structures.

Today's BRICS, Anwar noted, is not just a forum of statesmen. It includes the voices of the private sector, youth, women and civil society. That gives it a level of resilience, inclusivity and legitimacy that Bretton Woods institutions could not, being weighed down by their hierarchical and opaque structures.

Anwar's message marked clarity of purpose with the fine underlying subtleties: Malaysia, and the Global South too, want to engage all, defer to none, and recast the architecture of global cooperation frameworks from the prism of developing nations.

As 2025 Chair of ASEAN, Malaysia brings a regional mandate grounded in multilateralism, economic openness and collective agency.

Anwar addressed ASEAN's drive to strengthen intra-regional trade and investment, deepen financial integration, and promote local currencies for cross-border transactions, towards a more stable, diversified and less dollar-dependent system.

Building on this vision, the BRICS private sector could push innovative frameworks in finance, via green sukuk, climate-aligned instruments and sustainability-linked vehicles, as levers for systemic transformation.

In his interventions at the BRICS Leaders' Summit, Anwar made a strong case for closer BRICS-ASEAN ties. Both reflect the ambitions of the Global South, not to disrupt global order, but to rebalance it. As economic bifurcation deepens and supply chains collapse, this dialogue helps to rebuild connectivity, fortify inter-regional trade and investment, and enhance collaboration on the sectors that matter.

Anwar called for nothing less than the reform of the major postwar institutions, such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO), in order to reflect the 21st-century world. Stop being custodians of the past and become instead platforms for a fairer, more plural international order. The existing multilateral architecture is fraying, not for lack of ideals, but of responsiveness and the failure to evolve.

On the notion that Malaysia's partnership with BRICS is demonstrative of a geo-economic deflection from the West, particularly the United States, Anwar has made it unequivocally clear that the US remains Malaysia's top source of foreign direct investment.

In terms of trade, the US continues to be Malaysia's third-largest trading partner, a position it has consistently held since 2015, with total bilateral trade exceeding RM320 billion in 2024. Thus, any suggestion of a shift, strategic or otherwise, is groundless.

That said, BRICS represents not a counterweight, but a counterproposal deeply rooted in inclusion, equity, and shared sovereignty. It embodies a vision of balanced multilateralism that is networked, adaptive, and genuinely plural, offering an alternative framework better attuned to the complexities of a multipolar world.

Make no mistake: what we saw in Rio was not a symbolic appearance. It was Malaysia stepping into a new role as a bridge-builder, regional convenor, and vocal proponent of a more equitable global economy. And BRICS 2025 could well be a turning point.

That momentum continues in October when Malaysia hosts the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, where President Lula has pledged to attend - a testament to the growing stature of this partnership and a resounding endorsement of Anwar's diplomatic pull.

Malaysia will use that platform not for chest-thumping but for reinforcing multilateralism, advancing coalitions on artificial intelligence (AI) governance, devising frameworks for climate finance, and forging pathways to match private capital with the public good. We will make the case that the Global South must speak not just in unison, but with a defined purpose.

If Rio marked the coming-of-age of Malaysia's voice in BRICS, Kuala Lumpur could be its strategic consolidation.

The path forward is clear: not a retreat from the multilateral order, but its reform. Not a rejection of global engagement, but its redistribution. Not a rivalry of blocs, but a realignment of priorities.

In Rio, Malaysia did not simply participate. It asserted a new kind of agency - confident, constructive and forward-looking. The legacy of this moment will be written not in declarations, but in the institutions reformed, partnerships forged, and futures enabled.

The applause in Rio may have been spontaneous. But the work ahead demands resolve, conviction, and tenacity of purpose. And Malaysia is ready to carry it forward.

-- BERNAMA