MANILA — As the United Kingdom (UK) becomes Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN’s) newest Dialogue Partner, ASEAN looks forward to more robust economic relations with the said trading partner.
On 11 August 2021 via videoconference, ASEAN Senior Economic Officials (SEOM) met with UK Trade Commissioner Sam Myers and UK Ambassador to ASEAN, His Excellency (H.E.) Jon Lambe at the first SEOM-UK Dialogue Partner Consultations. At the meeting, the Philippines was welcomed as the country coordinator for ASEAN-UK economic relations. The Philippines was represented by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Assistant Secretary Allan B. Gepty.
Under this new partnership, ASEAN Member States and the UK will pursue cooperation initiatives to further strengthen trade and investment relations and support post-pandemic economic recovery efforts. Having been granted the Dialogue Partner status, UK and ASEAN will have more regular engagement to discuss the implementation of economic cooperation initiatives.
According to Assistant Secretary Gepty, the UK is a global leader on innovation and digitalization, and as ASEAN enterprises particularly micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) embrace digital transformation, this structured collaboration is not only timely but will also pave the way for a robust innovation environment in the region.
“The Philippines appreciates the UK’s support to ASEAN in the areas of digital innovation and financial services as these initiatives will significantly advance the region’s digitalization agenda. We look forward to further expanding ASEAN and UK’s partnership on this front.” said Asec. Gepty.
ASEAN SEOM also lauded the progress of various UK-funded programmes on areas of common interest such as economic recovery, digital innovation, supply chain resilience, financial services, and sustainable growth. These programmes support ASEAN member states in their regional economic integration and post-pandemic economic recovery efforts.
As trade ministers of ASEAN and the UK will meet formally for the first time in September 2021, SEOM also exchanged views on the possible priorities and principles that will set the future direction of ASEAN and UK economic partnership. The Philippines pushed for the inclusion of MSME development, public-private sector partnership, and Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET), among others. ♦
Date of Release: 18 August 2021