International Trade Secretary, , today (11 October) opened
the ASEAN@50
Business Forum and hailed the region’s strong trade links with
the UK.
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is
celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is hosting the event
to highlight business opportunities and celebrate the region’s
strong economic growth.
Addressing a range of businesses and diplomats, the Secretary of
State emphasised the deep relationship between south east Asian
countries and the UK, and spoke of his desire to improve trade
relations with the region as the UK leaves the European Union.
Currently 15% of all ASEAN’s EU trade
in goods and services is with the UK, and exports have risen
rapidly to the likes of Singapore and Indonesia in recent years.
The stock of UK foreign direct investment in both countries also
increased by 8.3% and 4.4% respectively last year.
With a population of more than half a billion people, and average
economic growth of 5% over the last decade, the region has
immense potential for increasing trade and investment with the
UK.
ASEAN was
formed 50 years ago as a political association between Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, and now also
includes Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
The Secretary of State has visited the region 5 times since the
Department of International Trade was created last year, and has
been deeply impressed with the appetite to do business with UK
companies.
International Trade Secretary, , said:
ASEAN countries
already have strong trading ties with the UK and, as we leave
the EU, the region’s rapid growth presents a huge opportunity
for British business to forge even closer ties with businesses
across South East Asia.
As an international economic department we will support UK
companies wanting to export to ASEAN markets,
and will continue to encourage investment between the region
and the UK.
The Department for International Trade provides businesses
wishing to export to foreign markets with a range of assistance,
including UK Export Finance.
UKEF’s mission is to
ensure no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or
insurance, while operating at no net cost to the taxpayer.
In 2016/17 UKEF provided £3 billion in
support, helping 221 UK companies sell to 63 countries around the
world, 79% of these companies were SMEs.
Other tools include the great.gov.uk website
which allows business to access live export opportunities around
the world, as well as being notified when an overseas company is
looking for a particular product.
Today’s event was jointly hosted by the UK-ASEAN Business
Council, the Department for International Trade and the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
