Tomorrow (Monday 12 December) the Foreign Secretary will set out
a fresh vision for UK foreign policy, focussed on building long
term meaningful partnerships with countries that have not been
traditional partners of the UK.
, in his first major speech
as Foreign Secretary, will set out plans that include moving away
from more short-term transactional relationships, towards
creating tailored UK offers to a range of countries that
will be increasingly important on the world stage.
At a time of international instability caused by Russia’s
unprovoked assault on Ukraine, these will be mutually beneficial
partnerships based on the needs and strengths of these partner
countries - spanning trade, development, defence, technology,
cyber security, climate change adaption and environmental
protection. These will be backed-up by investment through British
International Investment and the G7 Partnership for Global
Infrastructure. They will include aid, trade, an exchange of
expertise and closer cultural ties.
In his address taking place at the Foreign Commonwealth and
Development Office in London, will set out plans to work
alongside countries and regions at the forefront of future growth
and development, including across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The Foreign Secretary will highlight the benefits of maintaining
our existing solid relationships and at the same time building
future partnerships that will reinforce the principles, rules and
global institutions that have fostered an unprecedented period of
relative peace and prosperity for more people than at any time in
history. Through this, he will make clear the need to create a
credible and reliable alternative to countries like Russia, who
not only test those principles and rules but actively and
aggressively flout them, resulting in a huge loss of life, as we
have seen in Ukraine.
The vision will include a willingness to commit for the long term
with a foreign policy aim designed for decades and that embeds
the idea of thinking in such timescales.
Foreign Secretary is expected to say:
“In the coming decades, an ever greater share of the world
economy – and therefore of world power – will be in the hands of
nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
“The UK offer will be tailored to their needs and UK
strengths, spanning trade, investment, development, defence,
technology and climate change. This will be backed-up with
a reliable source of infrastructure investment. So I’m
determined that we will make investments of faith in the
countries that will shape the world’s future.
“We will show strategic endurance, willing to commit for the
long term. I want our foreign policy to be constantly
planning for tomorrow, scanning the horizon, looking 10, 15 and
20 years ahead.”
