ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi (R) poses for a photo with UK Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan. (Photo: asean.org) During their meeting at the ASEAN Secretariat’s headquarters in Jakarta on February 23, the two sides also discussed areas of mutual interest such as the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF), sustainability and climate change, infrastructure development, digital innovation, and ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific.
They looked forward to the implementation of the ASEAN-UK Joint Ministerial Declaration on Future Economic Cooperation as agreed during the first ASEAN Economic Ministers – UK Consultation last year, while exchanging views on the prospect of a joint study on how to further advance ASEAN-UK economic cooperation including through a possible free trade agreement/comprehensive economic partnership.
ASEAN Secretary-General Lim appreciated the UK’s consistent efforts and contribution in supporting the realisation of the ASEAN Community. He underscored the importance of elevating the ASEAN-UK economic partnership and improving trade and investment links between both sides.
He called on the UK to take advantage of the trade and investment facilitation presented by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement, by expanding the country’s investment in ASEAN member states.
Further, the ASEAN chief encouraged a closer alignment between the UK and ASEAN’s priorities by exploring the possibility of a suite of cooperation programmes in areas of sustainability, infrastructure, and digital transformation, which are important areas for post-pandemic recovery effort, as well as longer term structural transformation.
Two-way trade between ASEAN and the UK reached over 31.8 billion USD in 2020./.
VNA
