Tan Sri Nazir Razak, Chairman of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) and former Group CEO of CIMB, delivered a keynote address in Kuala Lumpur that struck a candid yet optimistic tone on the future of ASEAN economic integration.
Speaking at a regional investment conference hosted by the Securities Commission Malaysia, AFFIN Group, CGS International, and RHB Banking Group, Nazir outlined a pragmatic, execution-focused path forward for Southeast Asia.
“Asian economies are often full of grand rhetoric,” he said, “but what matters now is turning ideas into impact.” Addressing an audience of regional policymakers, business leaders, and investors, he framed ASEAN not only as a region of promise but one at a pivotal juncture.
Nazir’s reflections carried the weight of lived experience. He recalled leading CIMB’s transformation into a pan-ASEAN banking group in the wake of the 2007 ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) vision—a vision, he admitted, that never quite delivered.
“Despite all the celebratory rhetoric, the AEC fell short,” he said. “We were promised a single production base, free movement of goods, capital and skilled labor by 2015. Instead, we got fragmented markets and rising non-tariff barriers.”
Yet, the veteran banker insisted he is “more optimistic today than at any point in the last decade.” The reasons, he said, are threefold: shifting geopolitics that favor ASEAN’s neutrality, a new generation of internationalist-minded leaders, and a region that has learned the hard lessons of past overreach.
Nazir’s ASEAN-BAC has laid out 12 initiatives for 2025, under the banner “Unifying Markets for Shared Prosperity”. The projects are ambitious in scope but carefully calibrated to be achievable—designed not to repeat the AEC’s missteps.
The crown jewel, he said, is the ASEAN Business Entity (ABE) classification—a proposed mechanism to allow approved companies operational flexibilities such as freer movement of talent and cross-border outsourcing.
“It shouldn’t be so hard to build an ASEAN company,” Nazir said. “We suggest creating a path where businesses can tap into regional scale even if governments aren’t ready to fully integrate.”
Another major proposal is the ASEAN IPO Prospectus, which would enable companies to use a unified prospectus format for listings across member states. “A single ASEAN stock exchange may remain a dream,” Nazir admitted, “but harmonizing IPO rules is a realistic and meaningful step forward.”
ASEAN-BAC has also commissioned a private markets study with McKinsey & Co, aimed at unlocking what Nazir called a “grossly underdeveloped” sector. ASEAN private markets, he noted, account for just 0.5% of GDP compared to a global average of 1.5%. The Council estimates up to $60 billion in capital could be mobilized, contingent on reforms to reduce market fragmentation and improve investment monetization.
The Council’s agenda also includes advancing carbon market cooperation, beginning with a regional memorandum signed by national associations from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand. Nazir cited the formation of the Malaysia Carbon Market Association as a critical step in building regional capacity and mutual recognition frameworks.
On trade, ASEAN-BAC is piloting a digital trade exchange platform in Malaysia, targeting the often-overlooked business-to-business layer of cross-border trade. “Governments have made progress with the ASEAN Single Window,” Nazir said, “but we now need to focus on digitizing the paperwork between companies themselves.”
Nazir’s address came at a time of geopolitical turbulence. He acknowledged that ASEAN’s famed neutrality will be stress-tested in the months ahead, particularly as global superpowers recalibrate alliances in the face of a possible second Trump presidency. But he argued that this very neutrality, paired with strong economic fundamentals and leadership alignment, could serve as ASEAN’s greatest asset.
For the first time in years, he observed, regional heads of government—from Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim to Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto and Singapore’s Lawrence Wong—are aligned in their enthusiasm for regionalism.
Still, he warned, optimism alone isn’t enough.
“Ideas generation is easy,” Nazir said in closing, echoing a refrain he shared recently with ASEAN economic ministers. “The tough part is implementation. That’s why I pleaded for just three things—execution, execution, and execution.”
As Malaysia prepares to chair ASEAN in 2025, all eyes will be on whether that rallying cry translates into action—and whether ASEAN finally takes meaningful steps from aspiration to integration.