The Analysis Center for BRICS+ and ASEAN (ACBA) was represented at the Forum through Research Fellow Mr. Fasyeh Hamid, who attended as part of the delegation convened by MGIMO University's ASEAN Centre, where he is currently enrolled in the Centre's M.A. programme on the Political Economy of the ASEAN–Russia Strategic Partnership. ACBA's presence reflects the Center's standing engagement with the institutional and academic networks shaping ASEAN–Russia relations, and gave its research team direct, on-the-ground exposure to the policy and business discussions now defining the next phase of that partnership — discussions that sit squarely within ACBA's mandate on political risk and energy security in Southeast Asia.

The Forum's opening plenary brought together Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, Tatarstan Prime Minister Alexey Pesoshin, Russia–ASEAN Business Council Chairman Ivan Polyakov, and Russia's Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov. Subsequent sessions addressed cross-border IT and fintech cooperation — with Indonesia's LinkAja among the regional digital-payment players represented — as well as state-religious relations across ASEAN's diverse religious landscape.

In their remarks, the distinguished guests outlined the key areas of cooperation, including energy, food security, industry, transport infrastructure, and digital development, emphasizing that it is business, and not governments alone, that serves as the driver of innovation and progress.

The Business Forum unfolded against the backdrop of the wider Kazan Summit on 18 June, where President Vladimir Putin welcomed ASEAN heads of state and government, framing the gathering as evidence of both sides' shared commitment to "mutual respect, sovereign equality, and... peaceful cooperation." Indonesia's delegation was led by Foreign Minister Sugiono, who used the Summit's plenary session to press the case for deeper energy and food-security cooperation with Moscow, telling fellow leaders that "our resilience is strengthened by the quality of our partnership." The Summit closed with the adoption of the Kazan Declaration, the ASEAN–Russia Comprehensive Plan of Action for 2026–2030, and joint statements on energy and cultural cooperation — the framework against which the commitments raised at the Business Forum will now be tested.

For ACBA, the Kazan proceedings offer a useful marker against which to track the practical follow-through of the Comprehensive Plan of Action, particularly in the energy and food-security domains central to the Center's ongoing research on ASEAN's strategic positioning. ACBA will continue to monitor the implementation of the Kazan commitments as part of its broader work on energy security and political risk in the region.

Public and Institutional Economic Policies

ACBA at the Russia-ASEAN Business Forum in Kazan

Analysis Center for BRICS+ and ASEAN