Thank you all. Minister Bui, we’re grateful for Vietnam’s support as our country coordinator. And Minister Mohamad, it’s such a pleasure to be here in your beautiful country.
Last year, I told ASEAN I wanted to reconnect Britain with the world. Today, I’m the first British Foreign Secretary to return to one of these meetings since we became your newest Dialogue Partner.
I hope this consistency is welcome right now. The world feels no less volatile than it did a year ago.
Rapid technological change is remaking our societies, rewiring our economies, reshaping the global balance of power.
I agree countries like ours need to respond with resilience, with innovation and dynamism, and by putting people – our citizens – first.
Those are the values of your Community Vision 2045, precisely what we hope partnership with Britain can achieve.
As our recently published Trade Strategy set out, we believe this region offers real potential for our businesses to expand. We are working with you to unlock that.
That’s why we backed CPTPP’s decision in May to work towards a dialogue this year with ASEAN, why we’ve been supporting development of the ASEAN Power Grid, why we’re backing British firms to scale up their investments here.
Likewise, as our recently published National Security Strategy stressed, our region’s security and your region’s security are inextricably linked.
Russia illegally invaded Ukraine – that has consequences for markets here in Asia. North Korean troops fight for Russia – that has consequences for our Ukrainian friends on the European frontline. Smugglers or scammers ply their criminal trade – that has consequences for all our citizens and, ultimately, our tax revenues.
At the heart of our security cooperation is a shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The recent visit of Britain’s Carrier Strike Group and this Dialogue Partnership are just 2 examples of how, together, we can support this goal.
We stand firmly behind ASEAN centrality, recognising it underpins peace, prosperity and stability across the region.
All told, we’ve done a lot on both growth and security this past year. Nearly 95% of our Action Plan on track for delivery, the commitments we made last year in our first joint ministerial statement well under way.
Our job now is to go further, ahead of the fifth anniversary of this partnership next year and a new Action Plan to guide our cooperation to 2030.
I’m looking forward to discussing how we do so.
