FOURTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON COOPERATION AMONG EAST ASIAN

COUNTRIES FOR PALESTINIAN DEVELOPMENT (CEAPAD IV)

ON 11 JULY 2025, KUALA LUMPUR 

 

KUALA LUMPUR, July 11 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Japan will co-host the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD IV) on 11 July 2025 in Kuala Lumpur. The Meeting will be co-chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan, His Excellency Takeshi Iwaya, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and His Excellency Dr. Estephan Salameh, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation of Palestine.

CEAPAD is established to consolidate efforts by East Asian countries in providing capacity-building assistance for Palestine. Participating countries and International Organisations in CEAPAD IV are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Palestine, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).

CEAPAD IV will serve as a pivotal platform to recalibrate national efforts and consolidate collective regional assistance to urgently address Palestinians’ needs especially in critical areas, among others, immediate humanitarian response, early-recovery and reconstruction, economic development, capacity building, and institutional reform and governance. The Meeting is expected to adopt the Kuala Lumpur Action Plan 2025, outlining CEAPAD priorities for Palestine.

Malaysia reiterates its commitment to support efforts for immediate humanitarian aid, reconstruction of Gaza and capacity building for Palestine, including through Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP).

 

PUTRAJAYA

11 July 2025

 

SOURCE:

Communication & Public Diplomacy Division,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

 

--BERNAMA 

OPENING REMARKS

 

YB DATO’ SERI UTAMA HAJI MOHAMAD BIN HAJI HASAN,

MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MALAYSIA

 

26TH ASEAN PLUS THREE FOREIGN MINISTERS’ MEETING

 

KUALA LUMPUR, 10 JULY 2025

 

His Excellency Iwaya Takeshi

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Coordinator of the Plus Three Countries

 

His Excellency Wang Yi

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China 

 

His Excellency Park Yoonjoo

First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea

 

ASEAN Foreign Ministers,

 

Excellencies,

 

1.  On behalf of the Government of Malaysia, I am honoured to welcome Your Excellencies to Kuala Lumpur, for the 26th ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. I extend a special welcome to His Excellency Iwaya Takeshi, who joins us at this Meeting for the first time. 

2.  Our meeting today reaffirms our collective commitment, to further deepen the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation, as a driving force for peace, stability, and prosperity in East Asia. Amid complex regional and global developments, the relevance of platforms that advocate dialogue and cooperation, such as this, has never been more evident.

3.  The ASEAN Plus Three cooperation was established in 1997, to coordinate a regional response to the financial crisis at the time.

4.  Over the years, the region has weathered a few other challenges. Through it all, we have stood firmly together, coordinated our response, endured and overcome.

5.  Consequently, the ASEAN Plus Three has evolved into one of the region’s most enduring frameworks of cooperation. It is a hallmark of teamwork that is dependable and dynamic, and adapt at navigating complex regional realities.

6.   It enables us to consult, coordinate, and cooperate not only in times of crisis, but also in  our collective pursuit of sustained peace, inclusive growth, and shared resilience in East Asia.

7.  Today, we are once again being tested. The region is facing a storm – what might be called the perfect storm. The challenges are multi-fold, ranging from intensifying great power rivalry, economic fragmentation, disruptions, and technological transboundary threats. Unilateralism and nationalism are on the rise, marginalising multilateralism that is essential for a stable world order. 

8.  Nevertheless, I am confident that with our collective steadfastness, and strong commitment to dialogue and cooperation, we will again prevail.

9.  There have been some encouraging developments recently. These include the endorsement of the Rapid Financing Facility (RFF) under the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM), as well as the momentum from the Leaders’ statements on Electric Vehicle Ecosystem (2023), and on Strengthening Connectivity on Regional Supply Chains (2024).

10.  These are not isolated achievements. They illustrate the APT’s capacity to generate value, respond with agility and lead with foresight.

11.  Looking ahead, the ASEAN Plus Three must remain agile, well-coordinated, and forwardlooking, to ensure continued relevance and impact. This requires us to embrace frontier technologies.

12.  ASEAN’s regional digital transformation is projected to drive, approximately USD 2 trillion in regional GDP. With the expertise of China, Japan, and the ROK in digital technologies, the opportunities and potential returns are massive.

13.  Such initiatives support Malaysia’s objective, as Chair of ASEAN, to narrow development gaps, enabling equitable development, promoting sustainable growth, fostering peace through mutual trust and cooperation, improving living standards and human capital, as well as fostering social cohesion and participation, in an inclusive and sustainable manner.

14.  We should keep in mind that collectively, the ASEAN Plus Three represents a combined population of 2.28 billion people, with a total nominal GDP of approximately USD 29.33 trillion, or 25.77% of global GDP.

15.  This scale underscores the strategic weight and global relevance of our partnership, as well as the responsibility we bear in ensuring regional stability, inclusive growth, and sustainable development.

16.  Let us, thus, work together to sustain the momentum, strengthen future-oriented cooperation, and deliver tangible benefits to our peoples and beyond the region.

Thank you.   

 

OPENING REMARKS

 

YB DATO’ SERI UTAMA HAJI MOHAMAD BIN HAJI HASAN

MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MALAYSIA

 

TRILATERAL MEETING BETWEEN MALAYSIA, TÜRKIYE AND THE ASEAN SECRETARIAT

 

KUALA LUMPUR, 11 JULY 2025

 

His Excellency Hakan Fidan

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye,

 

His Excellency Dr Kao Kim Hourn,

Secretary-General of ASEAN,  

 

1.  On behalf of Malaysia, I warmly welcome you and your delegation to this Trilateral Meeting between Malaysia, Türkiye, and the ASEAN Secretariat.

2.  The ASEAN-Türkiye Sectoral Dialogue Partnership was established in 2017. Since then, our partnership has grown steadily, grounded in shared goals of peace, economic resilience, and people-to-people connectivity.

3.  Today, we stand on a solid foundation of cooperation, spanning the three ASEAN community pillars. The Practical Cooperation Areas (PCA) 2024–2028, provide a forward-looking framework to deepen our collaboration in several key areas.   

4.  These include the domains of political security cooperation, trade and digital economy, education, disaster management, and sustainable development. 

5.  In further consolidating this partnership, Malaysia welcomes expanding our defence industry cooperation as well as that of technology transfers.  

6.  Our economic relations are set to grow even further, with collaborations through the Türkiye-ASEAN Business and Investment Forum, and its support for MSME development and innovation partnerships. 

7.  Turkiye’s experience in the realm of egovernance, can be a great source of expertise in advancing digital integration, diversifying supply chains, and building collective resilience, and help us navigate current geo-economic challenges.

8.  On the socio-cultural front, initiatives like the Türkiye Scholarships-ASEAN Joint Scholarship Programme, training of ASEAN diplomats, and proposed cooperation on technical and vocational education and digital skills development, will reinforce our people-to-people links and nurture lasting cross-cultural ties.

Excellencies,

9.   Malaysia believes that ASEAN and Turkiye’s shared values, have resulted in the two being natural partners to champion multilateralism, peace, stability, prosperity, equality, justice, and humanity on the global stage.

10.   As principled and responsible members of the international community, we should lend our collective voices towards advocating a peaceful and just resolution to conflicts around the world, including the dire situation in Gaza.

11.  We must call for Israel to be held accountable, for its unrelenting violations of international law. Impunity has  emboldened it to attack other countries, and it will continue to destabilise the region and beyond if left unchecked.

12.  In closing, let us continue to strengthen our cooperation and chart a clear path forward that delivers tangible benefits for our peoples.

Thank you.  

 

OPENING REMARKS

 

YB DATO’ SERI UTAMA HAJI MOHAMAD BIN HAJI HASAN

MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MALAYSIA

 

15TH EAST ASIA SUMMIT FOREIGN MINISTERS’ MEETING (EAS FMM)

 

11 JULY 2025

 

Excellencies,

1.   On behalf of the Government of Malaysia, I am pleased to welcome you to Kuala Lumpur.

2.  In 2005, in these very halls, the ASEAN Leaders had the wisdom and foresight to establish the East Asia Summit, as a forum for dialogue on broad strategic, political, and economic issues of common interest and concern, with the aim of promoting peace, stability, and economic prosperity in East Asia.

3.  They envisaged the East Asia Summit to be an open, inclusive, transparent, and outward-looking forum, in which to strive to strengthen global norms and universally recognised values, with ASEAN as the driving force, working in partnership with the other participants of the East Asia Summit.

4.  In an increasingly interconnected and inter- dependent world, peace, stability and prosperity are our collective and shared privilege. We must continuously work together to ensure they are safeguarded and progressed.

5.  Two decades later, the East Asia Summit stands more relevant and vital than ever. Today’s world faces a complex web of crises that jeopardise global peace, shared prosperity, and the well- being of people everywhere. From the outbreak of conflicts and rising great power competition, to economic fragmentation, rapid technological shifts, and transnational security threats.

6.  These global and regional dynamics are shifting rapidly, testing the strength of our resolve and institutions, the clarity of our vision, and the resilience of our cooperation. 

7.  It is, thus, critical that we sustain the purpose and objective of the EAS, promote principled engagements, and advance common ground on issues of shared concern.

8.  In this context, Malaysia appreciates the EAS participating countries’ support for our priority as Chair to foster strategic trust through diplomacy, goodwill, and respect for international law, including through this platform.

9.  With a combined nominal GDP of approximately USD68 trillion, the countries in this hall today account for over half of the global economy.

10. This economic weight reinforces the EAS’s strategic importance, not only as a platform for dialogue, but as a powerful engine for cooperation, that broadens shared prosperity and enhances socio-economic resilience. 

11.  In this regard, peace, stability and predictability are essential. The many conflicts around the world must be effectively addressed and their untold devastation and sufferings relieved.

12.  ASEAN welcomes and supports all efforts towards peace, including in Ukraine and the Middle East. These efforts should be based on international law, international humanitarian law, and the United Nations Charter.

13.  The longest conflict of modern history, rooted in the unjust and illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territory, must be brought to an end.

14.  Eighty years of impunity have emboldened Israel to the extent of openly committing genocide, including through mass starvation that includes babies and children. This is unacceptable. It must not be allowed to continue. It must stop. 

Excellencies,

15.  Let us mark this 20th year of the East Asia Summit with a pledge to take decisive actions to end all conflicts, and to do so, guided by the principles of justice, fairness, equality and humanity.

16.  ASEAN counts on the constructive engagement, and commitment of all partners towards ensuring lasting peace, shared prosperity, and continued progress for all.

Thank you. 

 

Malaysia and the United States Bolster Strategic Civilian Nuclear Cooperation, 10 July 2025

 

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 (Bernama) -- On 10 July 2025, Foreign Minister Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan and His Excellency Marco Rubio, United States Secretary of State, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Concerning Strategic Civil Nuclear Cooperation on the sidelines of the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings.

This MoU represents an important milestone in U.S. support for Malaysia’s efforts to strengthen its capabilities in the nuclear energy sector. The MoU will facilitate cooperation in areas such as technical expertise, regulatory development, human capital training, and the use of nuclear technology in sectors like agriculture, industry, and healthcare.

In a gesture highlighting the importance of the visit, Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan expressed his appreciation to Secretary Rubio for choosing Malaysia as the inaugural stop on his first trip to Asia since assuming his role as Secretary of State in January 2025.

He also conveyed Malaysia’s readiness to begin discussions on a 123 Agreement to strengthen cooperation on nuclear technology between both countries.

The signing reflects the shared commitment of Malaysia and the United States to advance their Comprehensive Partnership and explore new areas of collaboration in addressing global challenges.

During the same event, Malaysia seized the opportunity to reaffirm its unwavering commitment to its crucial role as a coastal state. Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan underscored this priority, announcing that Malaysia is actively formulating new regulations designed to tighten enforcement against illegal ship-to-ship (STS) transfers within its waters. These changes are expected to take effect by the end of July 2025.

 

SOURCE:

Communication & Public Diplomacy Division,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs