Policy paper

UK-ASEAN factsheet

Updated 12 July 2023

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

1. ASEAN

• The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded in 1967. ASEAN’s founding members agreed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in 1976.
• ASEAN now brings together ten Member States: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
• The ASEAN Community has three pillars covering Political-Security, Economic and Socio-Cultural issues.
• In 2022, the total combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the ten ASEAN Member States was £2.8 trillion, making ASEAN equivalent to the fifth largest economy in the world.

2. ASEAN-UK Partnership

• In 2012, the UK acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC).
• In November 2019, we opened the UK mission to ASEAN and welcomed the first UK Ambassador to ASEAN. The UK has Embassies or High Commissions in all ten ASEAN Member States.
• On 5 August 2021, the UK became an ASEAN Dialogue Partner, the first new Dialogue Partner in 25 years.
• In September 2021, the UK attended the first ASEAN Economic Ministers-UK Consultation, the first Ministerial meeting since becoming a Dialogue Partner. At this meeting, we agreed the ASEAN-UK Joint Ministerial Declaration on Future Economic Cooperation.
• In July 2022, the UK hosted the first ASEAN-UK Senior Officials Meeting in London.
• On 4 August 2022, we agreed our first ASEAN/UK Plan of Action outlining our cooperation with ASEAN over the next 5 years across Political and Security, Economic and Socio-Cultural issues.
• In September 2022 the UK attended the second ASEAN Economic Ministers UK Consultation.
• In June 2023 Brunei hosted the second ASEAN-UK Senior Officials Meeting in Brunei.
• In July 2023, the Foreign Secretary attended his first annual ASEAN-UK Post Ministerial Council in Jakarta.

3. Political and Security Cooperation

3.1 Maritime Cooperation

• The UK has launched an enhanced capacity building programme on maritime cooperation with ASEAN States, aimed at boosting regional resilience to respond to maritime security challenges.
• The UK has funded the participation of officials from ASEAN Member States in a training course organised by the International Foundation of the Law of the Sea (IFLOS) in Hamburg, Germany. The UK will fund this course again in 2023.
• Since 2021, we have permanently deployed two Offshore Patrol Vessels (HMS TAMAR and HMS SPEY) to the Indo-Pacific, working with allies and partners throughout the region.

3.2 Security

• The UK works across the region with ASEAN partners: sharing experiences and building capability for South East Asian law enforcement in areas of national, regional and international joint interest.
• The UK has National Crime Agency officers based in Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam who provide coverage across SE Asia.
• We work with ASEAN partners to enable law enforcement intelligence exchange and operational cooperation. This covers the full range of serious organised crime threats including money laundering, cybercrime, counter terrorism, corruption, modern slavery human trafficking and child sexual exploitation.
• The UK’s National Crime Agency is an active member of ASEANAPOL having gained ASEAN Chiefs of National Police (ASEANAPOL) Dialogue Partner status in September 2019.
• In July 2023 we announced a new programme, worth over £3m, on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) at the ASEAN WPS Summit in Yogyakarta. This will support implementation of the ASEAN Regional Action Plan on WPS and provide WPS training for ASEAN member states’ officials.
• In 2023 the UK applied for membership of the ASEAN Regional Forum.

3.3 Defence

• The UK engages with ASEAN Member States across a broad range of defence areas, from capacity building in peacekeeping, military medicine and maritime cooperation to undertaking bilateral and multilateral joint exercises.
• Since becoming a Dialogue Partner in 2021, the UK has convened regional meetings, like the jointly sponsored Regional Jungle Warfare Symposium in Brunei Darussalam, and has hosted students from ASEAN Member States on world-leading professional military education courses in the UK to support capacity building and knowledge sharing across the region.
• In 2022, the UK was accepted into the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+) Expert Working Group Observership Programme for Peace Keeping Operations and Military Medicine.
• In 2023 the UK applied for membership of the ADMM+.

4. Economic Cooperation

4.1 Trade and Investment

• Total trade in goods and services between the UK and ASEAN Member States was £46.5 billion in the four quarters to end of Q4 2022.
• UK exports to ASEAN Member States in the four quarters to the end of Q4 2022 amounted to £23 billion (51.7% goods; 48.3% services). UK imports totalled £23.6 billion (73.1% goods; 26.9% services) over the same period
• The stock of UK inward FDI from ASEAN was at least £14.8 billion in 2021. This accounts for at least 0.7% of the total UK inward FDI stock.
• To ensure trade continues to increase, ASEAN and the UK have agreed to work together to open markets and promote an open, free and transparent trading environment in support of the rules based international system. The UK are bringing experts from the UK Government and our world-leading private sector to support ASEAN’s needs, increase cooperation in key areas of economic policy and deepen trade ties.
• The UK’s Intellectual Property Office attachés in Southeast Asia support ASEAN governments, the ASEAN Secretariat, international development partners, and industries to build a rules-based Intellectual Property system.
• The British Standards Institute is supporting ASEAN with recommendations on how to adopt and implement international standards across ASEAN. International standards can create a common language for trading partners and give access to the global market.
• The UK Competition and Market Authority have also regular policy exchanges with the ASEAN Experts Group on Competition to share best practices on how to strengthen ASEAN’s competition regulations in new areas such as digital markets and sustainability.
• ASEAN-UK supply chains cooperation is centred on deepening trade links between the UK and ASEAN to improve economic resilience and grow ASEAN’s economy.
• The UK has shared expertise with the ASEAN Secretariat through our delivery partner Boston Consulting Group on opportunities for ASEAN future sector leadership, developing a framework for industrial projects and on strengthening the ASEAN MedTech sector.
• In July 2023 the UK announced a new £25m ASEAN-UK Economic Integration Programme, which will support ASEAN economic integration and drive stronger, more equitable growth through better regulations, improved systems for trade, and wider access to financial services.

4.2 Financial Services

• The UK is ASEAN’s third-largest trading partner in financial services. Financial services accounts for almost 16% of UK services exports to ASEAN, at £1 billion. The UK is a leader on financial services innovation, regulation, and talent. For example, The UK is home to a thriving fintech ecosystem, with over 10,000 fintech firms and a supportive regulatory environment.
• In March 2023, the UK launched the report ‘Green Finance: Opportunities for deeper UK-ASEAN Cooperation’, provided by PwC and The Carbon Trust. The Bank of England is running a number of virtual workshops on payment systems for ASEAN central banks, hosted by Bank Indonesia.

4.3 Infrastructure

• Infrastructure investment will be key to the region’s post-pandemic recovery. It is estimated that the region’s infrastructure needs amount to over £82 billion a year; approximately two to six times the amount currently spent across the ASEAN Member States.
• The UK holds expertise across the lifecycle of infrastructure development and wants to work with ASEAN to share our expertise and bring in UK businesses to support ASEAN projects.
• The UK’s ASEAN Sustainable Leadership in Infrastructure Programme brings together voices from Academia, Multilaterals and the Private Sector to equip ASEAN policy makers with the tools, models and experience needed to plan, procure and deliver sustainable, resilient infrastructure for all.
• UK financial support through the new British Investment Partnerships approach, including British International Investment and UK Export Finance, will support new, long-term finance for clean infrastructure and help the region to build back better. The UK has will invest up to £110 million into ASEAN’s Green Catalytic Finance Facility.   

4.4 Digital

• The ASEAN-UK Digital Innovation Partnership is our platform for digital cooperation with ASEAN, focussed on three pillars – digital economy business partnerships, digital trade policy and digital government.
• The partnership continues to identify where digital solutions can best help realise mutual benefits for UK and Southeast Asian businesses, spanning areas such as e-payments, regulatory reform, and trade facilitation. In February, the British Standards Institute shared best policy practices on implementing recognised standards in digital trade.
• On 13-14 March 2023, UK-Southeast Asia Tech Week came to Jakarta, the home of the ASEAN Secretariat and capital of the 2023 Chair, Indonesia. The UK brought a delegation of UK companies to ASEAN to exchange ideas and explore business opportunities with the brightest tech minds in the region.

4.5 Science and Innovation

• The UK is home to world class science and technology. We can undertake joint research with partner countries, support technology transfer, and bring experts together from across the world to share ideas and expertise.
• The UK’s Newton Fund invested over £114 million in research and innovation activities in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam between 2014 and 2022.
• The UK Space Agency supported projects in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam under the 5-year £152 million ($190 million) International Partnership Programme, which uses the UK space sector’s research and innovation strengths to deliver a sustainable economic or societal benefit to emerging and developing economies
• Across Southeast Asia, the UK has increased resource on science and technology, including new dedicated staff covering the whole ASEAN region in Indonesia and the Philippines and doubling teams in Singapore and Malaysia.
• In 2022/23, the UK provided over £1m of programme funding for collaborative projects in Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam on digital standards, genomics, marine autonomy, climate science and electro-mobility.
• Following the launch of the International Technology Strategy in March 2023, over £400k will be invested in FY 23/24 in projects with ASEAN member states on artificial intelligence and engineering biology.

5. Socio-Cultural Cooperation

5.1 Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance

• The UK has stood by Southeast Asia during times of humanitarian need. Following storms and floods in 2020, the UK provided £1 million through the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) to assist 160,000 affected people in Vietnam and 80,000 in the Philippines. The UK also provided £750,000 to the IFRC’s response to Typhoon Rai.
• The UK is a leading donor to the humanitarian response in Myanmar. Since February 2021, the UK has provided £120 million to support the people of Myanmar. This has included life-saving assistance, support for emergency health care and education and supporting civil society. After Cyclone Mocha hit Myanmar on 14 May 2023, the UK provided an additional £2m of funding to support the humanitarian response.
• The UK is also a major contributor to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund, IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) and the NGO Start Fund. Collectively, these multi-donor funds allocated over £31m of assistance in the ASEAN region in 2022 alone.

5.2 Education

• In May 2023 we announced a new £30m programme to promote women and girls’ education in ASEAN. The programme will partner with governments and education providers to empower the most marginalised women and girls with a better future, boosting access to schooling for the 1.2m girls threatened with permanent school drop-out in developing Southeast Asia states. Funding will go towards improving basic reading and maths skills as well as expanding access to digital and technical education, to boost employment opportunities in high skill-sectors.
• There are over 38,000 Southeast Asian students in the UK and over 88,000 students pursuing British higher education qualifications at institutions located in the region itself.
• The UK government provides funding for several scholarships in the region. The Chevening Scholarship programme fully funds approximately 200 students a year from ASEAN Member States to study for postgraduate degrees in the UK. Over the last three years, through the British Council, the UK government has also fully funded 63 Women in STEM postgraduate studies and fellowships and part-funded over 103 Great scholarships for postgraduate students.
• British Council continues to contribute to education reform and development across Southeast Asia and has engaged over two million people across ASEAN, including 263,000 teachers of English.
• The British Council has led delivery of an £8.5 million (€10 million) project to support harmonisation of higher education standards in the ASEAN region.

5.3 Health

• The UK is recognised as a global leader on health and life sciences research and global health security (GHS). In 2020-2021, the UK refocused £50m of UK funding within ASEAN specifically to tackle COVID-19 and its impacts.
• This included £1m to the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund; £0.5m for strategic support to the ASEAN Secretariat to provide technical support to ASEAN on policies to mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19 and £4.8 million towards strengthening national health systems to prevent, detect and control the threat of COVID-19.
• In July 2021, the UK donated 3.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to seven ASEAN Member States, namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. 
• Through the Better Health Programme, the UK has supported governments in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam to strengthen local health system structures and workforce capacity to address the growing burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and increase access to safer, quality healthcare.
• Since 2020, the UK’s Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) has allocated £22m through the Fleming Fund project to address anti-microbial resistance (AMR) by strengthening surveillance systems in Indonesia, Vietnam, Lao PDR and Timor-Leste, supporting by regional grants and a regional hub in Thailand.
• DHSC’s International Health Regulations Strengthening project has expanded in 2023 to work in partnership with ASEAN to enhance global health security, supported by public health experts deployed to Indonesia and Thailand.
• As of July 2023, DHSC’s Global Health Research portfolio delivered through the National Institute of Health and Care Research has allocated £66.7m to 16 projects which include ASEAN partners, of which £12.7m to partner institutions across six ASEAN Member States. Projects address themes including respiratory health, neurotrauma, injury, mental health and genomic surveillance of Anti-Microbial Resistance.
• In support of the ASEAN/UK Plan of Action, the UK is now developing plans for a new multi-year regional health programme to help strengthen health systems and advance equitable access to health services across ASEAN Member States.

5.4 Environment and Climate Change

• The UK is committed to spending £11.6 billion on international climate finance and we are delivering on that pledge, including at least £3bn for nature and tripling our funding for adaptation from £500m in 2019 to £1.5bn in 2025
• We spent over £1.4 billion globally on international climate finance over the course of the 2021/22 financial year, supporting developing countries to reduce poverty and respond to the causes and impacts of climate change. We will publish the latest annual figures in due course.
• Countries in South East Asia continue to benefit from this funding, including through programmes such as:

  • £110 million for the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF) to support the development of sustainable and resilient infrastructure, such as renewable energy, clean transportation or urban infrastructure in ASEAN.

  • The Climate Action for a Resilient Asia (CARA) programme will spend up to £274m to help countries across Asia strengthen their resilience to climate change.
  • The UK’s £500 million Blue Planet Fund, which supports developing countries, including in South East Asia, to protect the marine environment and reduce poverty. The £154 million COAST programme, for example, will deliver in Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam among others to improve the climate resilience and prosperity of vulnerable coastal communities and support the sustainable management of the marine environment.
  • The UK’s development finance institution, British International Investment opened a new regional HQ in Singapore in September 2022 and expects to provide up to £500 million of climate finance in the region over the coming years. It announced its first investment in May - a $15 million commitment to the SUSI Asia Energy Transition Fund (SAETF).
• The UK’s £100 million Biodiverse Landscape Fund aims to reduce poverty, protect and restore biodiversity and lessen the impact of climate change in environmentally critical landscapes across the globe, including the lower Mekong region of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
• As part of our commitments on climate change in the ASEAN-UK Plan of Action, the UK is now developing plans for a new multi-year climate programme, which will build on previous UK support around issues such as green finance and energy demand to support a green transition in ASEAN.