KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia. July 9, 2025 – Malaysia’s Foreign Minister, Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad Haji Hasan, opened the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting today, urging regional unity to tackle modern challenges like climate change, disruptive technologies, and geopolitical tensions. The event, held in Kuala Lumpur, saw the attendance of ASEAN foreign ministers, Secretary-General Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who arrived at 2 a.m. from an overseas trip to grace the occasion.
In his welcoming remarks, Mohamad reflected on ASEAN’s 58-year journey since its founding in 1967 through the Bangkok Declaration. He highlighted the region’s progress amid a volatile global landscape marked by nuclear risks and proxy wars at the time. “Our founders chose to build bridges and uplift multilateralism,” he said, emphasizing ASEAN’s enduring commitment to peace.
Today’s challenges, Mohamad noted, include great power rivalries, protectionism threatening trade, and distant conflicts disrupting markets and food security, particularly impacting the Global South. “We must focus on a future-proof Southeast Asia,” he stressed, advocating for strategic autonomy and collective action.
Under Malaysia’s 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship, themed around inclusivity and sustainability, Mohamad outlined ambitions to strengthen regional peace and prosperity. He referenced the recent Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future and the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, adopted by regional leaders. This 20-year roadmap envisions a resilient, innovative, and people-centered ASEAN, guided by ASEAN Centrality.
The meeting sets the stage for upcoming Post-Ministerial Conferences with 11 Dialogue Partners, as well as the ASEAN Plus Three and East Asia Summits, aimed at boosting economic cooperation and strategic trust. The ASEAN Regional Forum will also be revitalized as a key platform for political-security dialogue.
Mohamad announced that Algeria and Uruguay will join as new signatories to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation later today, signaling ASEAN’s growing global influence. On Friday, Malaysia will host the Fourth Cooperation Among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development, reaffirming ASEAN’s support for Palestine.
“ASEAN has never shied away from ambition,” Mohamad concluded, underscoring the region’s responsibility to its nearly 700 million people.