{"id":803133,"date":"2026-10-15T06:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T06:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/803133\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T06:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T06:50:09","slug":"5-years-on-the-uk-and-asean-must-keep-advancing-together-op-ed-by-helen-fazey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/803133\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Years on, the UK and ASEAN must keep advancing together: op-ed by Helen Fazey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five years after the UK became ASEAN\u2019s dialogue partner, our partnership is proving its worth. Two-way trade now exceeds \u00a360 billion and our first ASEAN\u2013UK Plan of Action has been delivered. Now, as we look ahead, we need this to be a partnership fit for a new era of geoeconomics, where economic choices increasingly carry strategic weight. As the former UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper set out<\/a> in The Economist, prosperity and security can no longer be treated separately. Supply chains are being rewired for resilience as well as efficiency. Reciprocal tariff pressures are testing the bargaining power of every open economy. The cost of climate adaptation is rising faster than the finance available to meet it.<\/p>\n

In this environment, partnership is not a slogan \u2013 it is a capability. There is great potential to make more of the collective weight among like-minded partners. The choices that we make in how we shift our cooperation from presence to performance will set the measures by which the next phase of ASEAN-UK cooperation will be judged: on strengthening economic resilience, supporting SMEs, agreeing the rules for a digital economy and mobilising green finance.<\/p>\n

ASEAN and the UK are both open economies, deeply embedded in global trade, and long standing proponents of a rules-based international trading system. As a region central to global supply chains, the choices made today \u2013 by ASEAN and its external partners \u2013 will shape ASEAN\u2019s strategic agency for the next decade. In this context, the UK\u2019s response is deliberately practical. In a more contested global economy, we aim to be useful \u2013 and to be useful through ASEAN, not around it. The figures point to a strong foundation. The UK was the fourth largest investor in ASEAN in 2024, reflecting sustained confidence in the region\u2019s growth and stability. The UK\u2019s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership connects UK businesses to four ASEAN economies through a single, rules based framework, with further ASEAN Member States likely to become members in the future.<\/p>\n

But numbers only matter for what they enable. Behind every percentage point of trade growth sits a concrete story: a small business in Surabaya digitising its first cross-border shipment; a fintech founder in Manila accessing UK capital; a woman-led agricultural cooperative in the Mekong meeting international standards because the right partnership emerged at the right moment. This is where resilient prosperity is built. This is where programmes have to keep delivering \u2013 so that these people can point to something the UK helped build and say, with confidence \u2013 that worked for us.<\/p>\n

That philosophy underpins the ASEAN\u2013UK Economic Integration Programme<\/a>. Delivered with the ASEAN Secretariat and ASEAN Member States, the programme focuses on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises \u2013 the backbone of ASEAN\u2019s economy \u2013 helping them trade across borders, integrate into regional value chains, and adopt digital tools and finance. Women-led businesses are a deliberate priority. Economic systems that exclude half the workforce do not compound. Inclusive ones do.<\/p>\n

This approach is not imposed; it is aligned with ASEAN\u2019s own direction. The Philippines\u2019 2026 Chairmanship theme \u2013 Navigating Our Future, Together \u2013 sets the benchmark for our delivery. The ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and the Strategic Plan 2026 to 2030 provide the architecture. The next ASEAN\u2013UK Plan of Action for 2027 to 2031, is being built to serve those frameworks. ASEAN centrality is not a slogan. It is a discipline.<\/p>\n

Economic partnership today also extends well beyond traditional trade. The ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement \u2013 projected to add up to US$2 trillion to the regional digital economy by 2030 \u2013 is among the most consequential integration projects under way anywhere in the world. Through the Economic Integration Programme\u2019s digital trade workstream and initiatives such as the ASEAN\u2013UK TradeTech Lookbook, British CSIS Indonesia, 16 strengths in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud services are being matched to ASEAN\u2019s implementation priorities.<\/p>\n

Alongside this, the ASEAN\u2013UK Green Transition Fund is mobilising private capital for clean infrastructure and climate resilient growth. Together with ASEAN, we are mobilising green finance, accelerating the clean energy transition and protecting nature. The prize is clear: lower emissions, stronger energy security and new jobs in sunrise industries. A resilient region is an inclusive region.<\/p>\n

How does the UK distinguish itself among other partners engaged in Southeast Asia \u2013 some who trade in larger volumes, some with bigger programme budgets? What the UK offers is distinct: consistency and a steadfast commitment to the rules-based international system that underpins sustainable economic growth. We show up. We deliver on what we commit to. We work through ASEAN institutions rather than around them. In an era of volatility, predictability itself is a strategic asset for trade, investment and long-term confidence.<\/p>\n

The diplomatic calendar in 2027 brings a rare alignment: the UK chairs the G20, Vietnam hosts APEC, and Singapore takes the ASEAN Chair. The next Plan of Action is being shaped now. There are no shortcuts. The work must continue.<\/p>\n

Five years in, the ASEAN\u2013UK partnership is no longer about establishing presence. It is about compounding it. It is about earning trust through delivery \u2013 layer by layer, outcome by outcome. It is about recognising that only ASEAN-led work produces ASEAN-shaped outcomes. It is about advancing together.<\/p>\n

That is the partnership we are five years into. And it is the partnership we must keep building for the five ahead, and the five after that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Five years after the UK became ASEAN\u2019s dialogue partner, our partnership is proving its worth. Two-way trade now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-803133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}