ASEAN Must Trade More with Each Other, Malaysia Tells Indonesia
Jakarta. Malaysia wants ASEAN economies to trade more with each other, warning that the Iran war should be a wake-up call for the bloc to focus more on the region.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan put forward stronger intra-regional trade when visiting his Indonesian counterpart Sugiono on Thursday. Speaking in a joint press conference, Hasan said ASEAN members had been too focused on doing business with countries outside the group.
“ASEAN leaders want stronger trade within the group’s members. Intra-ASEAN trade is not even 25% [of the region’s total trade]. How can we trade and invest more within the bloc?” Hasan said.
Hasan went on to say that the group should have been able to learn from the ongoing crises, be it the Russia-Ukraine war and the Middle East tensions.
“[Stronger intra-region trade] will benefit the people."
He remained upbeat that Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur could hammer out their decades-long border issues soon, while adding that greater connectivity should be able to boost trade.
Sugiono offered little detail on their closed-door discussions, but admitted that they had talked about ramping up economic ties.
“We share the same DNA: culture, language, borders, and many more,” Sugiono said.
Hasan had previously stated that ASEAN was looking to lift the intra-regional trade to at least 30% by 2030. The latest available statistics showed intra-ASEAN trade soared to $823 billion in 2024.
International Economic Association (IEA) Secretary-General Lili Yan Ing had advised ASEAN to ease non-tariff hurdles, including rules of origin (ROOs). The tariffs on imports depend on these ROOs, as they determine where the product is made in a country eligible for tax cuts granted by trade deals.
“We [ASEAN] should harmonize standards and simplify the ROOs,” Lili said.
Indonesia-Malaysia trade totaled $24.2 billion in 2025, reaching almost $8.7 billion in January-April 2026. Jakarta saw a $251.5 million surplus over the said four-month period, government data revealed.
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