Asean aims for more investments from GCC as US tariffs spur diversification

In return, the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is seeking partners beyond the Middle East to tap its oil wealth as part of its efforts to play a greater role in global growth.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is this year’s Asean chair, said on Tuesday that the Asean-GCC Summit came at a crucial time when both regions “navigate an increasingly complex global landscape marked by economic uncertainty and geopolitical challenges”.

The GCC was the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ seventh-largest trading partner in 2023, with bilateral trade totalling US$130.7 billion, he said.

“A transition in the geopolitical order is under way” with multilateralism “breaking apart at the seams” under rising US protectionism, Anwar warned on Monday.