Kuala Lumpur: Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek has described the ASEAN Women's Economic Summit (AWES) 2025 as a vital platform to foster understanding, build networks, strengthen collaboration, and promote leadership among women. She emphasized the need to create an inclusive ecosystem that empowers women to take on leadership roles at all levels, as an essential step towards driving economic progress.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Fadhlina stated in a Facebook post that there must be sustained proactive measures to enhance the current ecosystem and strengthen the representation of women as leaders in the corporate and professional sectors. She also highlighted the critical role of education as a foundation for shaping a knowledgeable, competitive, and ethical generation, noting that this aligns with World Bank findings, which indicate that quality education plays a key role in elevating a nation's competitiveness.

The inaugural AWES 2025, held over two days beginning last Saturday, took place in conjunction with the 46th ASEAN Summit under Malaysia's chairmanship this year. With the theme "Empowering Women, Energising ASEAN: Pioneering Economic Integration for a Resilient Tomorrow," the summit stresses the urgent need to place women at the forefront of ASEAN's economic transformation, particularly in navigating current global challenges such as trade wars, digital transformation, and sustainable development.

The summit featured strategic dialogue sessions, thought-leadership forums, leadership workshops, and mentoring programs to advance women's leadership across the region.