By Wonsuh Song
[Tokyo | Japan] 2025 marks a milestone year for Malaysia as Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Under the theme “Inclusivity and Sustainability,” Malaysia is spearheading initiatives for economic resilience, digital transformation, and green growth across the region.
Ahead of the upcoming 47th ASEAN Summit, to be held in Kuala Lumpur from October 26 to 28, the Embassy of Malaysia in Tokyo is abuzz with activity.
“It’s been non‑stop. I’m looking forward to Christmas and the year-end break” H.E. Dato’ Shahril Effendi Abd Ghany said with a wry smile as we settled into a modest lounge at the Tokyo embassy in mid‑October. Small clues to a year organized around a simple pairing of words: inclusivity and sustainability.
Kuala Lumpur as a Stage, People as the Audience
Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship theme is less a slogan than a work plan. The government has hosted more than 300 meetings spanning digital transformation, renewables, healthcare, and tourism. The ASEAN Community Vision 2045 gives the effort a long horizon; the summit’s central Kuala Lumpur setting supplies the operational leverage. “In the end,” Ambassador Shahril Effendi Abd Ghany noted, “it’s the unseen details—protocol and logistics including accommodation, routes, security—that are just as critical in ensuring success.”
Japan as a Partner in Execution
Ambassador Shahril Effendi Abd Ghany describes Japan as a “vital partner in technology, green energy and digital inclusion.” That vocabulary travels well from communiqués to checklists: expanding renewables, conserving biodiversity, and building cross‑border digital infrastructure to narrow gaps within ASEAN. Inclusivity, in this framing, is not an abstraction; it is networks, standards, and skills.
The Numbers, and What They Mean
The economic layer is thicker still. Built on the Malaysia–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (2005), ties have deepened in quality. By the Ambassador’s count, over 1,602 Japanese companies operate in Malaysia; 2,838 manufacturing projects with Japanese participation have brought about US$30.54 billion in investment and 344,996 jobs. Malaysia functions as a springboard for Japanese firms into Southeast Asia, while Malaysian companies are expanding their footprint in Japan in halal products, services and energy. The pattern is less about single marquee deals and more about supply‑chain intimacy—incremental, resilient, scalable.
The 2030 Blueprint
Turn to national strategy and the goals sharpen. Malaysia, under the leadership of H.E. Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia, is aiming for high-income status by 2030. The 13th Malaysia Plan (2026–2030), recently announced by the Prime Minister, sets a roadmap for sustainable and inclusive growth—organising industrial upgrading, green growth, digitalisation, and competitiveness.
Openness is anchored by frameworks such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Japan’s role concentrates where technology meets the shop floor: efficient manufacturing, AI/DX, and energy efficiency.
Security at Sea, Practical by Design
Cooperation at sea has advanced in quiet, practical steps: maritime domain awareness, communications, joint training. Through Japan’s Official Security Assistance, non‑lethal equipment—including UAVs and rescue boats—has strengthened surveillance, search‑and‑rescue, and maritime operations. The principle of a Free and Open Indo‑Pacific thus becomes, in daily practice, patrols, drills, and know‑how.
Greener Growth, Wider Benefits
Malaysia has pledged net‑zero by 2050. Japanese partners are active in solar, biomass, and hydrogen, often pairing local manufacturing with technology transfer. In mobility, electrification (HEVs/EVs) is gathering pace. Regionally, the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) provides a platform for hydrogen, CCS and efficiency. The throughline is clear: grow greener, share wider—across sectors and borders.
Soft Ties, Strong Fabric
“Japan nurtures a sense of community from early on,” Ambassador Shahril Effendi Abd Ghany observed, recalling schoolchildren who tidy their own classrooms. The lesson—learn good practices and adapt them—runs through education and mobility. MEXT scholarships, short study programs, and university‑to‑university ties remain robust; youth enthusiasm for anime, manga and J‑pop stitches new threads to the fabric. On the table too, Japan feels familiar: rising imports of agri‑food and processed goods, and Japanese cuisine as a daily choice in Malaysian cities.
Tourism adds its own cadence: nature, food, affordability and warm hospitality draw visitors; improved direct flights and growing edu‑tourism sustain the flow.
Looking Toward Korea
When asked about Malaysia–Korea relations, Ambassador Shahril smiled and said:
“Relations between Malaysia and Korea are strong and steadily growing. Many Korean companies view Malaysia as their regional hub for Southeast Asia, and student exchanges as well as science and technology collaboration (S&T collaboration) are becoming increasingly active.”
He added, “Both countries have great potential to learn from each other and to grow together in the fields of innovation, sustainability, and cultural exchange. Malaysia truly looks forward to strengthening cooperation with Korea.”
Politics in a Sentence
On the day we met, Ambassador Shahril Effendi Abd Ghany noted the emerging possibility of Japan’s first female prime minister. On trade tensions, he needed only one sentence: “Tariffs must be fair.” Short words, long echoes.
The Ambassador’s closing line was an invitation: “We are preparing for Visit Malaysia 2026, and I sincerely hope to meet all of you in Malaysia.”
The non‑stop year rolled on. And yet the compass held steady—people and practice, inclusivity and sustainability—with Japan, Korea and ASEAN walking that road together.
Interviewer | Dr. Wonsuh Song (Lecturer at Shumei University / Waseda University, Columnist of Financial News Japan)
