KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year will boost the country's efforts toward greater regional integration, facilitating increased economic activity and trade, including tapping into the region's growing consumer base, Malaysian Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said.
This will demonstrate the grouping's desire for not only maintaining its neutrality in the face of geopolitical tensions, but also prioritizing economic prosperity and the quality of life, while avoiding interference in the internal affairs of member states, Rafizi told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview.
"Integration and closer cooperation are the natural reactions of ASEAN countries in the face of global development," he said, adding that ASEAN is unique in prioritizing economic growth, prosperity, and trade above all else.
"We respect how each country goes about their business, and therefore ASEAN becomes a region where we trade heavily with the rest of the world, but we also trade heavily internally. These are factors that make ASEAN a potential huge market," he said.
Rafizi explained that as the manufacturing and technology bases of the ASEAN region continue to grow along with its population, the expected strong consumer market of 700 million in the coming years will benefit from the production of chips and construction of data centers to meet regional consumer demands.
He highlighted that Malaysia is already taking advantage of these trends through a policy of greater integration, such as the launch of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ).
Johor, Malaysia's southernmost state, is closely cooperating with neighboring Singapore, complementing each other's strengths to drive economic progress, leveraging the rail and road connections between the two while working to reduce non-tariff barriers, he said.
"Malaysia intends to drive this message of collaboration and further economic integration among ASEAN as a top agenda, and if anything, the JS-SEZ is basically a test case. And if we are able to demonstrate that closer integration between Johor (state) and Singapore enlarges the (economic) pie and brings about the kind of growth that benefits Malaysia and Singapore, I'm sure we will see more efforts to replicate towards better economic integration in the future in ASEAN," he said.
Rafizi added that other opportunities for integration include the ASEAN Power Grid (APG), an initiative to construct a regional power interconnection to connect the region. The plan begins with cross-border bilateral terms, and gradually expands to sub-regional basis, and subsequently leads to a fully integrated Southeast Asia power grid system which in turn will support the digital economy.
"There is a strong economic case for further infrastructure and power integration," he said, adding that there are also a lot of opportunities for digital economic integration.
"In order to meet the speed and efficiency of moving goods around the region, ASEAN will eventually converge to make sure that we streamline our custom clearance and processes. Whatever we need to digitize, we have to digitize," he said. ■
