Amanda Milling, the Minister for Asia, visited Cambodia last week and announced a landmark deal with major Southeast Asian countries on a variety of issues.
The new Plan of Action will strengthen cooperation in trade and investment, defence and security (particularly maritime security and cyber), climate change, girls’ education, digital, and science and technology.
As part of the agreement, the UK will strengthen development and security ties in Southeast Asia by establishing a regional British International Investment office in Singapore later this year and investing up to £500 million in the Indo-Pacific.
The United Kingdom is also providing security and maritime law training to countries in the region, including through the Royal Navy.
This week, Cambodia will host Foreign Ministers and representatives from ASEAN countries Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Minister for Asia, Amanda Milling, 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.”
Today, August 4, was the first day that Minister Milling co-chaired the ASEAN-UK Post-Ministerial Conference since the UK joined the ASEAN Dialogue Partner. In August 2021, the UK officially received its Dialogue Partner designation, the first that ASEAN had approved in 25 years and a crucial component in the UK’s pivot to the Indo-Pacific.
By strengthening our security cooperation, fostering collaborations in tech and research, and defending important tenets of international law like the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, closer ties with Southeast Asia will contribute to the creation of green jobs.
In addition, the Minister disclosed that InfraCo Asia, which the UK supports by contributing to the Private Infrastructure Development Group, will lend Cambodia $2.3 million to help build out its water delivery network.
Minister Milling made it clear during the meeting that the UK stands with its international allies in denouncing the Russian government’s reprehensible actions and that the unprovoked, premeditated, and barbaric attack against the sovereign democratic state of Ukraine continues to rankle the British people.
Regarding Myanmar, Minister Milling vehemently denounced the junta’s recent horrific and cruel executions of pro-democracy activists. She reaffirmed that the UK still supports the ASEAN Five Point Consensus on Myanmar and that an immediate end to the violence and a peaceful resolution to the issue are urgently required.
Since becoming a dialogue partner, the UK has invited ASEAN to be represented at the G7 Foreign Ministers in December, provided 4.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to ASEAN members during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, and given £1 million to the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund.
Additionally, the UK has agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding with the Asian Development Bank to assist the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility, a £107 million trust fund, which would help ASEAN governments finance green infrastructure projects.