LONDON, 7 July 2022 – The inaugural ASEAN-United Kingdom Senior Officials’ Meeting (AUKSOM) held yesterday in London reaffirmed the commitments to strengthen mutual cooperation.
This is the first official engagement of both sides’ Senior Officials since the ASEAN Foreign Ministers conferred the status of Dialogue Partner on the UK at the 54th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on 2 August 2021.
ASEAN Senior Officials acknowledged that the UK has long-standing relationships with ASEAN and ASEAN Member States, since before the conferment of Dialogue Partner status of ASEAN.
Both sides agreed to continue to strengthen their existing cooperation and explore new areas for future cooperation, including counter terrorism and violent-extremism; cybersecurity; transnational crime; maritime cooperation; digital integration; transition to clean energy; food security; sustainable infrastructure; environment and climate change.
Other areas of cooperation are people-to-people exchanges; connectivity, including the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC); ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN); implementation of the IAI Work Plan IV (2021-2025); education and human resource development, especially technical and vocational education and training (TVET); and public health.
The meeting noted ASEAN and the UK’s close cooperation in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic recovery phase, and appreciated the UK’s contribution of GBP 1 million to the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund.
Both sides underlined the need to continue cooperation for the regional post-pandemic recovery, including through the ASEAN Regional Reserve of Medical Supplies (RRMS) for Public Health Emergencies, the ASEAN Center for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases (ACPHEED), and the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework and its Implementation Plan.
The meeting also welcomed to the implementation of the ASEAN-UK Joint Ministerial Declaration on Future Economic Cooperation which provides guidance on the strengthening of ASEAN-UK engagements in the economic pillar.
The meeting further appreciated the progress and ongoing work in the negotiation of the Plan of Action (POA) to Implement the ASEAN-UK Dialogue Partnership (2022-2026) and looked forward to the adoption of the POA 2022-2026 at the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference (PMC) 10+1 Session with the UK, scheduled to be held on 4 August 2022 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The Senior Officials 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 regional architecture, the situation in the South China Sea, and the situation in Ukraine.
Permanent Secretary and SOM Leader of Brunei Darussalam, Emaleen Abd Rahman Teo, and Jenny Bates, Director-General, Indo-Pacific at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of the UK and SOM Leader of the UK, co-chaired the meeting. Other ASEAN SOM Leaders or their representatives and the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Political Security Community were also in attendance.
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