1. The First ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) – United Kingdom (UK) Consultation was held on the 15th September 2021. The Consultation was co-chaired by H.E. Dato Dr. Amin Liew Abdullah, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II, Brunei Darussalam, and the Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP, Secretary of State for International Trade, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
2. The Meeting welcomed the establishment of the ASEAN-UK Dialogue Partnership. Two-way trade between ASEAN and the UK was worth £33.8 billion in 2020, representing a decrease of 16.5% since 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic. The Meeting expressed its commitment to grow bilateral trade even further. The Meeting recognised that an open, free, inclusive, transparent, rules-based, and nondiscriminatory multilateral trading system, is fundamental to a resilient, inclusive and sustainable recovery from COVID-19.

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