News story

PM visit to south-east Asia

David Cameron led a trade delegation to Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia from 27 to 30 July to boost UK trade and investment.

• From: Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street, UK Trade & Investment, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and The Rt Hon Lord Cameron
• Published: 27 July 2015
• Last updated: 29 July 2015 — See all updates

This was published under the 2015 to 2016 Cameron Conservative government

The Prime Minister was joined by 31 representatives from businesses from every region of the UK.

View photos of the Prime Minister in south-east Asia and our interactive map showing highlights of the PM’s visit.

News and updates

Malaysia

The PM’s final stop was in Malaysia where he met the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. He then attended a reception for potential investors where he spoke about the UK “being open for business”.

Vietnam

The PM spoke with President Sang at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi. He then issued a joint statement with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. He witnessed the signing of Rolls-Royce contract with Vietnam Airlines for £340 million. He hosted a FinTech roundtable at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE), as the UK aims to be the leading financial technology centre in the world.

Singapore

The PM visited the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore to make a speech calling for an international approach to addressing corruption. He met the President of Singapore, Tony Tan, and gave a press conference with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong. He also met the Business Secretary Sajid Javid, leading a Northern Powerhouse trade delegation of 62 northern companies to Singapore and Malaysia and discussed how UK companies could work more closely with those in Singapore.

Indonesia

The PM met President Jokowi of Indonesia at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday 27 July before visiting ASEAN headquarters. He also attended a business event to discuss infrastructure and investment opportunities. Later that day he toured street stalls and visited the Sunda Kelapa Mosque in Jakarta to talk to religious and community leaders about tackling extremism.

Speeches and press releases

• PM leads the charge to make the UK a global financial technology hub
• Joint statement by the UK and Vietnam on UK Prime Minister’s visit to Vietnam
• PM seeks stronger co-operation with Vietnam to stop modern slavery as new measures come into force
• Northern Powerhouse: PM speech in Singapore
• Press conference in Singapore
• New foreign investments boost Northern Powerhouse
• Prime Minister announces space partnerships with Southeast Asia
• Tackling corruption: PM speech in Singapore
• PM sets sights on south-east Asia with £750m business deals and new EU trade deal
• ASEAN – a new big beast in the East: blog post by UKTI
• PM puts the ISIL threat on the agenda for talks in south-east Asia

Social media

For more information, follow us on social media for the latest news and updates or sign up to the Number 10 South-east Asia Twitter list:

• @Number10gov and @Number10press
• 10 Downing Street on Facebook
• Prime Minister on LinkedIn
• @UKTI
• @BusinessisGREAT
• BusinessisGREAT on Facebook
• @UKinIndonesia

PM priorities for the visit

Trade and investment

The main focus of the visit was about opening doors to future trade. The region is forecast to grow at 5% this year and has the potential to unlock huge opportunities for jobs and growth in the UK.

The PM has called for the EU to jump start a trade agreement with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) worth £3 billion to the UK economy.

Countering ISIL

The PM raised the threat from Islamist extremism with President Widodo in Indonesia and will do so later in the week with Prime Minister Najib of Malaysia. The leaders will discuss what more the UK can do with countries in south-east Asia to defeat terrorism. Read the Prime Minister’s recent speech on extremism or listen to an audio version.

About the delegation

The Prime Minister was joined by 31 representatives from businesses from every region of the UK. Follow our Twitter list for details of the businesses represented during the visit.

Published 27 July 2015
Last updated 29 July 2015 + show all updates

1. 29 July 2015

   Updated with link to Northern Powerhouse speech.

2. 29 July 2015

   Added link to space partnerships news story.

3. 28 July 2015

   Added a link to Flickr photo gallery.

4. 27 July 2015

   First published.