Tengku Zafrul Delivers Empowering Keynote at ASEAN Women Economic Summit 2025

• Tengku Zafrul Aziz, Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry, gave the keynote speech at the ASEAN Women Economic Summit (AWES) 2025
• He underlined how important women's empowerment is to fostering resilience and economic growth in the area

Speaking recent in Kuala Lumpur, at ASEAN Women Economic Summit (AWES) 2025, Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry Tengku Zafrul Aziz delivered a powerful keynote address. The summit brought together business, government, and civil society leaders to support the advancement of women's economic empowerment throughout the region as part of Malaysia's ASEAN Chairmanship efforts.

Since women make up nearly half of ASEAN's population, Minister Zafrul stressed in his speech that their underrepresentation in senior management, the workforce, and financial resources is a problem and a lost economic opportunity. He issued a warning that current gender disparities could be made worse by global issues like trade disruptions and climate change.

"These gaps are not only unfair — they run contrary to economic sense," Tengku said, adding that achieving gender parity could boost the global economy by up to $12 trillion by 2025. Malaysia's GDP could rise by 8.2 percent, or about $50 billion, if the gaps are closed.

He outlined Malaysia’s commitment through its MADANI Economy framework, which promotes inclusive growth. MITI-led initiatives include the Women Exporters Development Programme, gender-sensitive trade policies, a RM200 million fund targeting women entrepreneurs in high-growth sectors, and the Women in Industry and Trade Initiative (WITI). Notably, women currently make up 69 percent of MITI’s senior leadership.

With goals like boosting regional GDP by $2.3 trillion through women's economic participation, Malaysia, the ASEAN Chair, is spearheading the theme of "Inclusivity and Sustainability." He emphasized the value, inventiveness, and tenacity that women-owned enterprises bring to the thriving global economy of today.

He outlined Malaysia's ambitious national goals, including doubling the number of women exporters, establishing ASEAN's first Women's Economic Empowerment Centre in Kuala Lumpur, increasing the proportion of women in the workforce to 63 percent by 2030, and having 30 percent of women on corporate boards.

Minister Tengku also called for the summit to discuss critical issues like policy consistency among ASEAN, enhancing access to capital — including establishing a potential $1 billion regional fund — digital skill development, sectoral support specifically for women in industry and trade, and producing next-generation female leaders.

Wrapping up his speech, he saw an ASEAN where all girls believe in endless possibilities, all women have equal chances, and economies grow through inclusive leadership. Quoting Malala Yousafzai, he reminded the people, "We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back." He formally opened AWES 2025, hoping that the summit would be a turning point for women's empowerment in the entire ASEAN region.