KUALA LUMPUR, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim emphasized the need for every ministry to make solid and comprehensive preparations, with a few months left before Malaysia takes over the role of ASEAN 2025 chairman from Laos. Through a post on Facebook, he said Malaysia needs to be a great leader by putting together various programs that really have a profound impact on the ASEAN community as a whole. Earlier, he chaired the National Steering Committee Meeting for the 2025 ASEAN-Malaysia Chairmanship in Putrajaya. Laos will hand over the chairmanship of ASEAN at the ASEAN Summit from Oct 8 to 11. Malaysia has previously held the position of ASEAN Chairman four times in 1977, 1997, 2005 and 2015.