Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, today delivered a video message on the transformative potential of quantum technologies at the ASEAN Quantum Summit 2025, hosted by Malaysia. In his remarks, Dr. Kao underscored that globally, investment in quantum technologies has now surpassed USD 40 billion, with the market projected to grow from USD 1.3 billion in 2024 to nearly USD 10 billion by 2034, and quantum computing alone expected to reach USD 20 billion by 2030. He also encouraged for stronger commitment in Research and Development (R&D), and alignment with the ASEAN Plan of Action on Science, Technology and Innovation (APASTI) 2026-2035 and ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Strategic Plans 2026-2030 to build a resilient, inclusive and future-ready ASEAN.
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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, followed by Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, Cambodia on 30 April 1999, and Timor-Leste on 26 October 2025 making up what is today the eleven Member States of ASEAN.
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The rodmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015) was declared by the leaders in 2009. The ASEAN Community, anchored on three community pillars: Political-Security Community, Economic Community, Socio-Cultural Community was launched in 2015. The ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together was introduced in 2015 as a Post-2015 Vision. It comprises the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025, the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025
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