SEPANG: Leaders from Southeast Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have begun arriving in Malaysia for the second ASEAN-GCC Summit, to be held concurrently with the 46th ASEAN Summit, set to take place on May 26 and 27 in Kuala Lumpur.
The Secretary-General of the GCC, Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi, arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here at 1.18 pm.
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya arrived today at 10.15 am, followed by Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Ferdinand Martin Gomez Romualdez at 11.40 am, while Omani Undersecretary for Political Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, Sheikh Khalifa Ali al Harthy, had arrived earlier at 7.30 am.
The first ASEAN-GCC Summit was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in October 2023, where leaders endorsed the ASEAN-GCC Framework of Cooperation (2024–2028), marking a historic milestone in inter-regional relations.
The GCC, comprising six countries – namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – was founded in 1981 to foster political and economic cooperation among the Gulf countries.
The second ASEAN-GCC and the inaugural ASEAN-GCC-China Summit will be held concurrently with the 46th ASEAN Summit on May 26 and 27 in the capital here, under Malaysia’s ASEAN 2025 Chairmanship.
With the theme ‘Inclusivity and Sustainability’, this 2025 edition will mark Malaysia’s fifth time chairing ASEAN, following previous terms in 1977, 1997, 2005 and 2015.
