Objective: Studies have shown that there were poor adherence to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) clinical practice guideline (CPG) recommendations among primary care providers (PCP). The Chronic Care Model (CCM) was proven to be effective in improving providers’ adherence to CPG among T2DM patients in developed countries. However, evidence in developing countries is still lacking. Methods: This was a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial - participatory action research conducted in ten public primary care clinics in Malaysia. Five clinics were randomly selected to provide the EMPOWER-PAR intervention for one year and another five clinics continued with usual care. The PCPs’ adherence to T2DM CPG was measured using the ‘Process of Care Questionnaire’, which includes the indicators of care as recommended by the Malaysian CPG on the Management of T2DM. Data were collected from the patients’ medical records, retrospectively at baseline and at 1-year follow-up. Data were analysed for descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 888 patients were recruited at baseline; 471 were in the intervention and 417 in the control group. There was no significant demographic difference between the two groups at baseline except for ethnicity. At 1-year, 455 (96.6%) and 406 (97.3%) patients in the intervention and control groups completed the study, respectively. There were significant improvements in the percent change of the level of PCPs’ adherence in the intervention compared to the control group at 1-year follow-up in several indicators of care. These include recording of body mass index (BMI), performing foot examination, funduscopy, monitoring renal function and measuring urine FEME (UFEME), and giving lifestyle modification and self-management advice. Conclusion: The EMPOWER-PAR intervention has been proven to be effective in improving the PCPs’ adherence to T2DM CPG in several indicators of care. Findings from this study provided objective evidence of the effectiveness of this intervention in the Malaysian public primary care setting.