WELCOMING REMARKS BY TENGKU ZAFRUL AZIZ (SEAFIC CHAIRMAN) AT THE SOFT LAUNCH OF SEAFIC
10 FEBRUARY 2026 | JAKARTA, INDONESIA
His Excellency Dato' Syed Mohamad Hasrin Tengku Hussin, Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia
Your Excellencies Ambassadors (from various countries) represented here today
Our Esteemed Panellists, Prof. Danny Quah (Professor in Economics, LKY School of Public Policy) and Pak Arsjad Rasjid (my good friend and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Indonesian Business Council - IBC)
Ms Raline Shah, who has kindly agreed to moderate today’s discussion,
Distinguished Guests,
Member of the Media,
Ladies and gentlemen,
1. Assalamualaikum. Selamat pagi and thank you for joining us for this very special occasion — the soft launch of the Southeast Asia Futures Initiative Centre, or SEAFIC.
2. Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for regional policy dialogue. SEAFIC was created with a simple purpose: to help Southeast Asia not only understand the future, but shape it. And I am deeply honoured to welcome all of you — leaders, thinkers, friends to our inaugural forum.
3. Let me begin by expressing my sincere appreciation to a few leaders: Firstly, my gratitude to His Excellency Dr. Kao Kim Hourn. His leadership continues to guide the region through an increasingly complex global landscape. He couldn’t be here due to prior commitments, but has kindly agreed to deliver a recorded video message.
4. Next, our esteemed guests – the Indonesian Vice Minister for Trade (who delivered the welcoming remarks), Her Excellency Dyah Roro, Professor Danny Quah, Pak Arsjad Rasjid and Raline – who have graciously taken time from their busy schedules to be part of this important discourse.
5. A special mention to our regional partners – including Sinar Mas, represented today by Pak Franky Osman Widjaja. Our utmost appreciation for your kind support.
6. And of course, to all attendees — thank you for your time today.
Ladies and gentlemen,
7. Today’s forum — ASEAN’s Golden Decade: Turning Geopolitical Overload into Geoeconomic Opportunity — captures the essence of the moment we are living in.
8. For decades, ASEAN’s principles of neutrality and nonalignment have served us well. They have allowed the region to remain open, stable, and commercially attractive, even as major power rivalry ebbs and flows around us.
9. But Southeast Asia is entering a consequential phase. Neutrality alone is no longer enough. And while ASEAN’s greatest strength lies in its potential, potential alone is not a strategy.
10. If ASEAN is to safeguard its long-term interests — and seize the opportunities emerging from this geopolitical quagmire — we must move from passive adaptation to deliberate, people-oriented action. This is where SEAFIC hopes to contribute.
11. Our mission is to advance forward-looking, evidence-based policy dialogue that helps the region anticipate change, not merely respond to it.
12. SEAFIC aims to bring together policymakers, industry leaders, academics, and innovators to explore the pathways that will define Southeast Asia’s next decade — from digital transformation and green growth to supply chain resilience, investment inflows, and better regional integration.
13. SEAFIC will provide grounded foresightfor Southeast Asia’s future— not to predict what will happen, but to prepare leaders for multiple
possibilities.
14. In a new world order whose profile is still being re-configured by geopolitical rivalry, tech disruption, climate transition, demographic shifts, and supply chain realignments – the real risk is not change itself – but in being unprepared.
15. To unlock ASEAN’s “golden decade,” we must complement collective solutions with foresight – whether it is deeper regional integration, stronger public–private collaboration, or improved institutional capacity.
16. This forum is a step in that direction. By convening leaders who understand the region’s complexities — and who are shaping its economic and strategic trajectory — we hope to bridge the gap between principle and practice, between policy and performance.
17. And most importantly, as we spark the kind of honest, forward-looking conversations that ASEAN needs – we hope this will help make our SMEs, our people, our youths more resilient, relevant, and united, even as they navigate a far more uncertain global
environment.
18. So, thank you again to our panellists and all of you here today. Your presence reflects a shared belief: that Southeast Asia’s best years are ahead of us. Indeed, with the right ideas, partnerships, and leadership, ASEAN can transform geopolitical overload into geoeconomic opportunity.
19. SEAFIC is honoured to begin this journey with you.
20. Thank you, and I look forward to a rich and meaningful discussion.
