KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 — As the current Asean chair, Malaysia can propose a roundtable discussion between Southeast Asia and the BRICS countries to explore new trade corridors, diversify regional trade, and reduce reliance on traditional partners.

The president and chief executive officer of independent think-tank Emir Research and an expert on regional policy, Datuk Rais Hussin, said the move would deepen engagement with emerging markets and advance Asean’s economic integration, especially given the current uncertainties in the global arena.

"Exploring new trade corridors need not also be limited to BRICS but could include other groupings such as the African Continent Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” he told Bernama after the recent Bernama World television programme hosted by Pasha Rahim, which focused on Malaysia as Asean Chair 2025 leading the region towards collective success.

Malaysia, along with Thailand, were admitted as partner countries of BRICS effective January 1, 2025, while Indonesia became a full member days later 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 per cent 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.

BRICS aside, Rais said Malaysia should lead Asean in further expanding Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with other groupings.

For instance, Kuala Lumpur could 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, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, could explore shared infrastructure investments, particularly in non-renewable and renewable energy.

To a question by host Pasha, Rais said that Malaysia could also lead the way in enhancing economic resilience, food security and digital transformation in line with Asean’s 2040 goals to secure its position both in the region and globally.

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.

This could be on the basis of bilateral country-to-country alliances or via trade or investment deals between regional blocks.

Given the challenges over the past few years, such as the Covid-19 global and regional lockdowns, Rais said Malaysia, as Asean chair, could also pave the way in strengthening supply chains by spearheading initiatives to improve cross-border infrastructure and digital supply chain systems.

"Strengthening supply chains also include food and energy security, which calls for establishing an Asean Strategic Food Reserve Alliance,” Rais said.

This would 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.

Rais 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. — Bernama