47th ASEAN summit concludes in Malaysia

The 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and related summits concluded in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia, the chair of ASEAN 2025, emphasized ASEAN centrality, saying that "we revived dialogues, built new bridges, and proved that ASEAN's machinery, when guided by patience and reason, still works."

"Centrality, while not soaring above the skies, is still alive and well. Things are not falling apart and the center still holds," he said.

At the ceremony, Malaysia handed over the ASEAN chairmanship for 2026 to the Philippines.

The ASEAN Summit is generally held twice a year -- once in the first half and once in the second half of the year.

Established in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor-Leste.