“By becoming the pillar of economic strength among regions and the hub of an emerging multipolar order, Asia will eventually have a say in the management of global affairs,” said Abdullah Badawi, former Malaysian prime minister, during an interview with the People’s Daily.

What Asia offers is unique to what the international system has witnessed or experienced in the post-Cold War period, Badawisaid days before the opening of the 2015 Boao Forum.

The Asian community is very much predicated on a sense of unity through diversity, he said, adding that Asian nations have embarked on different growth trajectories with different historical legacies and cultures.

“We are pluralistic, multicultural and multilingual,” said Badawi. “The different regimes and political systems in the continent have subsequently led to different stages of democratization and economic development.”

Speaking highly of China’s economic achievements during the past decades, he said that China’s per capita GDP has boomed from being equal to 24 percent of the global average in 1980, to 103 percent in 2010.

Badawi said he believes that China will rightly demand a more important role and influence in international affairs, but added that it is the “awakening” of India and China coupled with ASEAN centrality that will shift the multipolar order back to Asia.

As for the future, Badawi stressed that “We should do more to address the widening gap between the rich and the poor, as failure to do so will aggravate social, economic and political tensions. Regional stability will be compromised if economic growth is not undertaken in a much more holistic manner. ”

He also pointed out that to “remain within the ‘Asian bubble’ will not do us any favors. Although regional cooperation and economic might have brought us to the forefront of a multipolar order, we stand to benefit more from greater inclusion with the international system.”