Championing ASEAN Economic Integration Under Malaysia's Chairmanship

PENANG KICKED OFF 2025 with a bang, hosting the launch of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—Business Advisory Council (BAC) here, in tandem with Malaysia assuming the chairmanship of ASEAN.

The ASEAN-BAC chairman is Nazir Razak, whose late father Abdul Razak Hussein, the country’s second prime minister, was a founder-member of the group. At the launch, Nazir called for greater economic integration of the ASEAN member states in light of the global economic uncertainty brought on by US threats of punitive tariffs, technology imbalances, sustained inflation and the developmental divide.