KUALA LUMPUR, 9 October 2025 — Digital senior officials and telecommunications regulators from ASEAN Member States (AMS) convened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the 2nd ASEAN Digital Senior Officials’ Meeting – ASEAN Telecommunications Regulators’ Council (ADGSOM–ATRC) Leaders’ Retreat of 2025, held from 5-9 October.
Hosted by the Ministry of Digital, Malaysia, and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, the retreat brought together senior representatives from AMS, the ASEAN Secretariat, and external partners to deliberate on key issues shaping ASEAN’s digital future. The meeting aimed to strengthen coordination between ADGSOM-ATRC in advancing ASEAN’s shared vision of a secure, inclusive, and sustainable digital community.
The meeting underscored the importance of building a digitally connected ASEAN where technology benefits all. The Chair also emphasised the need for cohesive regional cooperation to foster innovation while ensuring trust, safety, and resilience in the digital ecosystem. Further, the meeting reaffirmed ASEAN’s strong commitment to advancing regional digital integration through policy coordination, infrastructure development, and technology governance.
Key outcomes include the endorsement of the feasibility study report and the Declaration for the establishment of the ASEAN AI Safety Network (ASEAN AI SAFE), paving the way for the Leaders’ adoption at the 47th ASEAN Summit on 26-28 October 2025. The meeting also noted the ongoing work to finalise the ASEAN Guide on Sustainable Data Centre Development by early 2026, aimed at promoting sustainable, energy-efficient data centres that balance economic growth with environmental stewardship. On the development of theASEAN Digital Masterplan 2030 (ADM 2030), the meeting exchanged views on the potential key areas of ADM2030, focusing on emerging priorities such as digital inclusion, AI readiness, cross-border data interoperability, and sustainable connectivity.
Additionally, the meeting also discussed the proposal to Establish a Working Group on Telecommunications Infrastructure (WG-TI), aimed at addressing issues like infrastructure development, network resilience, 5G expansion, and terrestrial network. Another proposal was also discussed to stablish a Working Group on Digital Policy Planning (WG-DPP), aimed at aligning national policies, monitor the implementation of digital masterplans, and institutionalise forward-looking policy coordination across ASEAN Member States.
Lastly, the meeting continued collaboration with external partners namely China, Japan, Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT), Russia and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), particularly in advancing telecommunication cooperation, AI governance, digital trust, and cybersecurity capacity-building in the region.
In conclusion, the retreat concluded with a shared commitment to foster inclusive digital transformation, strengthen infrastructure and institutional readiness, and deepen public–private partnerships to ensure ASEAN’s digital economy continues to drive regional prosperity. The outcomes of the 2nd ADGSOM–ATRC Leaders’ Retreat of 2025 will be finalised at the upcoming 6th ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting (ADGMIN) in early 2026 in Hanoi, Viet Nam.
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photo credits: Ministry of Digital, Malaysia, and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission
