Kuala Lumpur, 15 August 2024: With intensifying great power rivalry affecting ASEAN's economic and political security, ERIA, in collaboration with the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research (EABER) at the Australian National University and the Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, convened a High-Level ASEAN Policy Dialogue Forum in Kuala Lumpur on 15 August 2024.

The forum, which gathered regional experts and policymakers, was organised into three sessions. Each session addressed critical regional issues, including emerging challenges in regional economic security, the role of Asian institutions in ensuring comprehensive security, and ASEAN’s strategies for shaping the region’s future beyond 2025.

Datuk Prof. Dr Mohd Faiz Abdullah, Chairman of ISIS Malaysia, opened the dialogue with welcoming remarks and co-led the first session alongside Prof. Peter Drysdale, Head of EABER. This session focused on economic challenges amid the shifting world order, the rise of regional security threats, and the increasingly intertwined relationship between economics and security. Discussions also covered the complexities of maintaining stability in a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape, highlighting the importance of inclusivity, open regionalism, and economic cooperation in addressing both internal and external challenges.

The second session, chaired by Dr Yose Rizal Damuri, Executive Director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Prof. Shiro Armstrong, Director of EABER, centred on the role of Asian regional institutions in ensuring comprehensive stability. Participants exchanged insights on ASEAN's future political and economic direction, strategic opportunities within the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. The need for Malaysia and ASEAN to balance economic growth with security priorities was a key focus of the discussion.

In the final session, once again led by Datuk Prof. Dr Mohd Faiz Abdullah and Prof. Peter Drysdale, the discussion emphasised the importance of strong strategic leadership in developing regional strategies to navigate current geopolitical complexities. The session underscored ASEAN’s inclusive, consensus-driven approach as vital to maintaining its central role in regional cooperation.

The dialogue concluded with a call for ASEAN to proactively address evolving challenges, such as demographic shifts and job displacement driven by artificial intelligence, to ensure regional resilience and prosperity. Key recommendations included addressing the complexities of the RCEP, expanding ASEAN’s soft-power initiatives to tackle non-traditional security threats, and strengthening decision-making processes.