KUALA LUMPUR: BRICS and its partners must rally around the collective mission of creating technologies, jobs and well-being for the bottom billions of the world’s population, and they must act quickly, said Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong.
He said Malaysia, as the 2025 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) rotating chair, has adopted the theme “Inclusivity and Sustainability”, reflecting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s vision of a progressive Madani society with civilisational potential.
“Malaysia’s New Industrial Masterplan (NIMP) 2030 sets out four concurrent missions. These include increasing complexities in our industry mix, which translate into more value-adding and value-extracting, and strengthening technological adoption, including digitalisation, automation and artificial intelligence.
“The other two missions are moving towards net zero to achieve climate goals while developing our economy, and ensuring economic security for all to spread the benefits of development widely for societal harmony and genuine human development,” he said at the BRICS Forum on Partnership on New Industrial Revolution 2025 and the BRICS PartNIR Innovation Center’s entrepreneurs forum in Xiamen, China on Tuesday.
He said Malaysia aspires to move from the “Made in Malaysia” model, essentially contract manufacturing for multinationals, to the “Made by Malaysia” approach that would produce homegrown multinationals driven by technological innovation.
“These missions and aspirations are not just for Malaysia. We believe all developing nations share the same goals, as reflected in the ASEAN Community Vision 2045,” he said.
Liew also said the world is entering a new historical phase.
“If we look back in 2045, we may conclude that 2025 is a pivotal year when the world changes course, as important as 2001 when Sept 11 happened, and the responses of the United States that shaped the geopolitical landscape for 20 years, as well as the ascension of China into the World Trade Organisation, which shaped global trade for two decades.
“We are in such a moment of history that the Global South needs to create demand through jobs, create technologies, and maintain peace and wellbeing,” he added. – Bernama
