Anwar’s Asean summit risks Trump’s ire as Malaysia courts China, Gulf bloc

The grouping includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, collectively the world’s ninth largest economies valued at US$2 trillion, according to the GCC data.

“Rather, it is about ensuring Asean’s strategic relevance in a multipolar world,” he said at a conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Anwar’s drive to bolster an emerging trade alliance which spans China’s massive economy, Asean and the GCC showed how he intended to get on the front foot as chair of the 10-member bloc, said Sam Baron, a research fellow at Japan’s Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies.