INTERVENTION BY

THE HONOURABLE DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

 PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA

G20 LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2025

SESSION 1: INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND

BUILDING OUR ECONOMIES; THE ROLE OF TRADE; FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT AND THE DEBT BURDEN

22 NOVEMBER 2025, 1015 HOURS

His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa,

President of South Africa and G20 2025,

Excellencies,

I thank President Ramaphosa for his leadership, and for inviting Malaysia to this Summit in our capacity as ASEAN Chair.

We meet at a juncture of deep economic and geopolitical unease. One cannot help but feel that we are on the cusp of even greater volatility.

Globalisation created unprecedented prosperity, but its gains were uneven and the world was slow to adjust. After the 2008 financial crisis and again during the COVID-19 pandemic, many were left vulnerable rather than supported. The political effects of those shocks persist to this day.

As ASEAN Chair this year, Malaysia has worked with our Southeast Asian neighbours to manage tariff shocks, supply-chain pressures and rapid technological change. We have found that when policies are aligned and rules are predictable, shocks pass through with less damage. The lesson is clear: resilience comes from common preparedness, not isolation.

This lesson matters because the next disruption will likely be harder to contain. Artificial intelligence will reorganise labour markets at a pace our institutions will struggle to match. Without early investment in transitions, workers – especially the young – will face these shifts alone.

We have seen the consequences before when societies were unprepared for globalisation: stagnant wages, eroded trust and the rise of politics that feed on grievance. With AI, destabilisation becomes a real risk if countries enter this transition unprepared. This will be one of the defining challenges of our times.

Allow me to offer several observations.

First, countries must equip their people, especially the youth, for the speed of technological change. Opportunities for training and credible safety nets are essential. Small and medium-sized firms, which carry much of the employment burden, will need support.

Second, open and predictable trade remains vital. In Southeast Asia, we are doubling down on international trade. We have seen that connected markets and clear, stable rules strengthen supply chains and give firms the confidence to invest. We have therefore moved quickly on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, which will set common standards for data, payments and digital trade.

Third, global resilience cannot be built on fiscal exhaustion. Many developing economies now spend more on servicing debt than on education or investment. Countries need the capacity to invest ahead of disruption, not after. Multilateral development banks must be ready to deploy more quickly and work closely with countries to support the investments that build resilience.

Malaysia is therefore ready to work with all partners to meet this common challenge and to help sustain an open, predictable global economy that gives our people a fair chance to thrive.

Thank you.

(439 words – 3 ½ minutes)