Declaration to raise most dynamic model in Asia-Pacific cooperation to new heights

The Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2045 unveiled on Monday at the 46th ASEAN Summit in the Malaysian capital indicates the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is putting sustainable and inclusive development at the forefront for the next 20 years.

Anwar Ibrahim, prime minister of Malaysia, this year's rotating chair of ASEAN, said, "The future we seek must rest on foundations of sustainability and inclusion. ASEAN's integration must be genuinely people-centered. That means closing development gaps, raising standards of living and investing in the human spirit and potential of all our citizens."

With that vision for the following two decades, anchored in realism, animated by resolve and made possible by trust, ASEAN has demonstrated it is clearheaded that seeking common development has been and should continue to be a core mission of all its member states so that they can better respond to emerging challenges.