Challenges | pm: malaysia must reform to face emerging challenges

PM: Malaysia must reform to face emerging challenges

Malaysia cannot rely on outdated legislation to address the challenges posed by rapid technological developments and must pursue reforms to create greater opportunities for international collaboration, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told delegates at the World Economic Forum (WEF).

During a media briefing on ‘Unlocking Asean’s Digital Future: Driving Inclusive Growth and Global Competitiveness’ in Davos, the prime minister underscored the government’s commitment to ensuring that legislation keeps pace with global developments.

“We take all the latest pieces of legislation all over the world and adjust accordingly, and push through,” he said, adding that there was an “array of things that we need to do to give meaning to effective collaboration and clarity of policies, and effective fast-paced implementation”.

When asked about unlocking Asean’s full potential as chairman for this year, Anwar said all member leaders must continue to implement specific policies to address the rapid advancement of new technology.

He said it was important that all parties involved acknowledged the challenges created by these new technologies. “We don’t have all the answers, and therefore, the collaboration must begin with the key players, including companies, and states,” he said. This includes fostering an ecosystem encompassing airports, ports, infrastructure, centres of excellence, research, and partnerships with universities.

He noted that collaboration among Asean leaders must extend to the private sector, as technological progress demands that governments and ruling elites recognise their limitations, and adopt a cooperative approach to succeed.

Anwar led the Malaysian delegation on a three-day working visit to attend the WEF Annual Summit 2025 in Switzerland – his first participation in the WEF since assuming office in 2022.

The theme for this year’s event was ‘Collaboration for the Intelligent Age’, and among the many issues discussed were the role and contribution of emerging technologies, and the latest innovations in addressing global economic issues.

Free trade agreements ‘need to encompass digitalisation’

In a separate session at the WEF, PM Anwar Ibrahim said digitalisation is a “missing component” in all of Malaysia’s previous free trade agreements (FTAs).

Stressing that digital transformation is one of the priorities that Asean is aggressively embarking, he said Malaysia, which is currently looking at upgrading some of the existing free trade agreements (FTAs), is also looking at digitalisation as part of the upgrade.

“We have just signed last week with the United Arab Emirates, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) with the United Kingdom. And now we want to have a fast track with the European Union through the Malaysia-EU Free Trade Agreement (MEUFTA).

“A very important component that was missing in all the previous FTAs is of course digitalisation,” he said.

Anwar, who is also Malaysia’s Finance Minister, said that on the digital transformation within Asean, AI driven connectivity needs to take into consideration difference in service standards for those in urban centres compared with less developed areas.

“Our commitment is to make sure that this sort of transmission (Asean Power Grid or APG) and also the transformation of digitalisation would cover all areas and angles.

“If these two priorities are achieved, I think it would be a phenomenal feat for Asean as a region because as, as you know, it is relatively the most peaceful region in the world and the fastest growing economy. But we have not given emphasis to substantive economic or technological collaboration,” he said.

Anwar also expressed confidence that the consensus that have been achieved among Asean leaders, signify a very important radical departure from the conventional view of Asean leaders in the past.

Apart from that, the prime minister also pointed out the importance of private sectors coming together through collaborations in digitalisation to fast forward the initiative among member countries.