Datuk Rais Hussin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Emir Research and an expert on regional policy, said the move will deepen engagement with emerging markets and advance ASEAN’s economic integration, especially given the current uncertainties in the global arena.
Malaysia, along with Thailand, were admitted as partner countries of BRICS effective January 1, 2025, while Indonesia became a full member on January 6. With the inclusion of the three ASEAN nations and new members comprising Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, BRICS now represents roughly half of the world’s population and more than 41% of global gross domestic product (GDP), which offers immense market opportunities for ASEAN.
This is why Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has consistently exhorted that ASEAN and Malaysia, specifically, could gain from improving trade and increasing exports with BRICS, whose original members comprise Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, according to Rais.
For instance, Malaysia can help Southeast Asia build on the 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) by negotiating more inclusive, sector-specific deals that open markets to the region’s small and medium enterprises.
Member countries of both groupings, some of which are highly developed, such as China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, can explore shared infrastructure investments, particularly in non-renewable and renewable energy.
ASEAN’s endeavour to diversify trade ties neatly with the BRICS-Plus or the BRICS+ network, whereby the inter-governmental organisation itself expands the possibilities of forming alliances within and across continents for developing economies.
Given the challenges over the past few years, such as the COVID-19 global and regional lockdowns, Rais said Malaysia, as ASEAN Chair, can also pave the way in strengthening supply chains by spearheading initiatives to improve cross-border infrastructure and digital supply chain systems.
This will leverage real-time data analytics to manage stocks and the sourcing and logistics of staple commodities, thereby bolstering each nation’s resilience against global supply shocks.
He added that a similar framework could also be extended to other widely used industrial inputs to strengthen overall economic security, which is undoubtedly a pivotal role Malaysia can play as the ASEAN Chair.
