Kuala Lumpur, 14 February 2025 – The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) hosted a briefing today for chambers of commerce and business associations across Malaysia, where Tan Sri Nazir Razak, Chairman of ASEAN-BAC Malaysia, presented the 12 key initiatives for ASEAN’s Chairmanship year. The session, attended by over 40 business organizations, focused on key proposals to strengthen regional business collaboration.
One of the standout initiatives introduced was the ASEAN Business Entity (ABE) concept, which aims to provide greater operational flexibility for ASEAN-based companies. The initiative advocates for ASEAN member states to offer more flexibility, particularly in the areas of talent mobility, capital movement, and back-end outsourcing. Tan Sri Nazir emphasized the need for a distinct business category for ASEAN companies to facilitate smoother operations and help overcome the fragmentation challenges that businesses face when scaling across the region.
“There needs to be a business category for ASEAN, beyond local and foreign, so that companies anchored in the ASEAN market can operate with ease and circumvent the fragmentation challenges confronting businesses that try to scale in ASEAN,” Tan Sri Nazir stated.
FMM President, Tan Sri Dato’ Soh Thian Lai, reaffirmed FMM’s commitment to ASEAN’s future, highlighting the crucial role of businesses in shaping the region’s trajectory. “We firmly believe that businesses are crucial partners in shaping ASEAN’s future. We recognise the critical importance of regional collaboration and the private sector’s vital contributions to driving sustainable economic growth and deeper integration within the region,” he said.
The event also saw participation from SME industry leaders spanning various sectors, including automotive, food processing, aluminium, plastics, rubber gloves, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, freight forwarding, cosmetics, toiletries, construction, and food and beverage, as well as professional services.
During the session, participants raised several concerns, such as non-tariff barriers, the absence of harmonized standards, foreign shareholding restrictions, and the proliferation of new standards, among other challenges affecting ASEAN businesses.
ASEAN-BAC Malaysia expressed its commitment to advancing these issues in regional policy dialogues, representing the private sector in 2025 and continuing efforts to enhance ASEAN’s business environment.
