Minister for Asia, has visited Cambodia this
week and announced a milestone agreement on a range of issues
with influential countries in Southeast Asia.
The new Plan of Action, will deepen cooperation on trade and
investment, defence and security - including maritime security
and cyber – as well as climate change, girls’ education, digital
and science and technology.
As part of the agreement, the UK will scale-up development and
security links in Southeast Asia, opening a regional British
International Investment office in Singapore later this year to
invest up to £500m in the Indo-Pacific. The UK is also
offering training for countries in the region on security issues
and maritime law, including from the Royal Navy.
This week Cambodia is hosting Foreign Ministers and
representatives from ASEAN countries - the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations – Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam.
Minister for Asia said:
The UK continues to deepen our economic ties and strengthen our
security partnerships with these fast-growing economies in
Southeast Asia.
Practical measures including opening a new BII office in
Singapore to boost investment and providing training on security
and maritime law demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the region
and increased engagement in the Indo-Pacific.
Minister Milling co-chaired the ASEAN-UK Post-Ministerial
Conference today (4 August), the first since the UK became an
ASEAN Dialogue Partner. The UK’s Dialogue Partner status, the
first ASEAN has agreed to in 25 years, was formalised in August
2021 and an important part to the UK’s tilt towards the
Indo-Pacific.
Closer ties with the Southeast Asia bloc will help create green
jobs, reinforce our security cooperation, promote tech and
science partnerships, and safeguard key pillars of international
law like the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The Minister also announced that InfraCo Asia, which the UK
supports through its funding to the Private Infrastructure
Development Group, is providing a $2.3 million loan to support
the development of Cambodia’s water supply network.
During the meeting, Minister Milling made clear that Russia’s
unprovoked, premeditated and barbaric attack against the
sovereign democratic state of Ukraine remains in the hearts of
the British people and the UK stands united with international
partners in condemning the Russian government’s reprehensible
actions.
On Myanmar, Minister Milling strongly condemned the recent
appalling and barbaric executions of pro-democracy activists by
the Myanmar junta. She reiterated the UK continues to support
ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus on Myanmar and the urgent need for
an immediate end to the violence and for a peaceful solution to
the crisis.
Since becoming Dialogue Partner, the UK invited ASEAN to be
represented at the G7 Foreign Ministers last December and during
the global COVID-19 pandemic, donated 4.3 million doses of
COVID-19 vaccines to ASEAN members and contributed £1m to the
COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund.
The UK also recently signed an MoU with the Asian Development
Bank to support ASEAN states to invest in green infrastructure
through a £107m trust fund to support the ASEAN Catalytic Green
Finance Facility.
Notes to editors
-
ASEAN-UK Plan of Action
2022-2027.
- ASEAN Factsheet.
- The UK officially became Dialogue Partner of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations on 5 August
2021.
- The other ASEAN Dialogue Partners are Australia, Canada,
China, European Union, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New
Zealand, Russia and the United States of America.
- The ASEAN Catalytic Green
Finance Facility, managed by the Asian Development Bank and
with £110 million of UK financial support, was announced by the
Foreign Secretary at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021.
-
Minister Milling
travelled to Cambodia for a 2-day visit in January, in
the month Cambodia became Chair of ASEAN in 2022.
