BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 8 June 2023 – Senior officials of ASEAN and the UK reaffirmed commitment to further strengthen ASEAN-UK Dialogue Partnership and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation. This commitment was made at the 2nd ASEAN-UK Senior Officials’ Meeting (AUKSOM) today in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam.
The meeting exchanged views on the developments in ASEAN and in the UK and reviewed cooperation between both sides across the three pillars of the ASEAN Community. The senior officials took note of the progress made in the implementation of the ASEAN-United Kingdom Plan of Action (POA) (2022-2026) and looked forward to further enhance the partnership in areas of mutual interest.
The meeting encouraged cooperation between ASEAN and the UK in the four areas identified under the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific that is inclusive, mutually beneficial, and directed towards the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region.
ASEAN welcomed the first ASEAN-UK project to be implemented under the POA entitled Promoting Women and Girls’ Education in ASEAN which was announced at the 19th Education World Forum in London in May 2023. The UK also introduced its flagship multi-year development programmes to support the implementation of the POA on girls’ education; economic integration; women, peace and security; health systems; and climate transition.
The meeting further discussed ways to deepen the ASEAN-UK cooperation in areas such as maritime cooperation; transnational crime; cyber security; trade and investment; micro, small and medium Enterprises (MSMEs); digital transformation and inclusivity; sustainable development and decarbonisation; environment and climate change; people-to-people contacts; education; health; connectivity; narrowing development gap; smart cities and infrastructure.
Both sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common interest and concern including regional economic developments and multilateral trading system, the importance of maintaining ASEAN’s Centrality in the evolving regional architecture, the situation in the South China Sea, developments in Myanmar, and the situation in Ukraine.
The 2nd AUKSOM was co-chaired by Johariah Wahab, Permanent Secretary and SOM Leader of Brunei Darussalam and Jenny Bates, Director-General, Indo-Pacific at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of the UK and SOM Leader of the UK. Senior officials of ASEAN Member States and representatives of the ASEAN Secretariat were also in attendance. Timor-Leste attended the meeting as Observer.
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