{"id":92626,"date":"2018-06-07T10:45:19","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T10:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=ffb5e9de89db7e8a9f2bf4b4f91ed42c"},"modified":"2018-06-07T10:45:19","modified_gmt":"2018-06-07T10:45:19","slug":"speech-why-uk-asean-trade-ties-are-thriving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=92626","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Why UK-ASEAN trade ties are thriving"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It\u2019s been 50 years since the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN<\/abbr>) came together as a group of like-minded nations to promote regional trade and the benefits it delivers to all.<\/p>\n

ASEAN<\/abbr> has come a long way in the last half century, representing some of the world\u2019s most dynamic and fast-growing economies. Boosted by a young and growing population, the ASEAN<\/abbr> region is already equivalent to the world\u2019s seventh largest economy with a growth rate of around 5%, which means that it is on course to be the fourth biggest by 2030.<\/p>\n

Recently, I attended the UK ASEAN<\/abbr> Business Council (UKABC) summer reception, a forum for trade representatives to discuss our rapidly growing trade ties.<\/p>\n

Southeast Asia is a vital cog in the movement of goods and is essential for international trade to flourish. As such, ASEAN<\/abbr> matters to Britain and is a key component in the UK\u2019s drive to increase trade with countries around the world. In 2016, UK-ASEAN<\/abbr> alone trade increased by 9.1% and went above \u00a330 billion (about $40 billion) for the first time \u2014 and I expect this figure to continue to grow dramatically in the years to come.<\/p>\n

Supporting and improving Britain\u2019s global trade links is a central priority as Britain leaves the EU, moving toward an independent trading future. In response, the Department for International Trade was created to support UK businesses to sell their goods and services trade around the world. And opportunities in fast growing markets are a key part of our future potential.<\/p>\n

Highlighting the UK\u2019s commitment to growing our trade ties with ASEAN<\/abbr>, so far, this year we\u2019ve had 3 planned visits to the region by trade ministers: International Trade Secretary Liam Fox visited Thailand last month, a few weeks ago our Trade Policy minister, Greg Hands, went to Singapore for the ASEAN<\/abbr> Leadership Forum a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

Today, nearly 25,000 UK businesses export to ASEAN<\/abbr>-4 (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam) alone \u2014 making the grouping the UK\u2019s second-largest global export destination after the United States. But, whilst this shows the significant scale of our current trade connections with ASEAN<\/abbr>, there is still scope for much more scope for growth.<\/p>\n

British businesses start from a strong base: we\u2019re already the second-biggest European investor in the region, supporting growth and jobs on both sides. In Singapore alone there are 4,000 British companies employing 50,000 people.<\/p>\n

Today, services make up 44% of our total value of exports, a higher proportion of our GDP<\/abbr> than any other major economy. Meanwhile, ASEAN<\/abbr> countries imported $311 billion of services in 2015, up almost 30% on 2010. The demand is there, and making it easier for firms here in London to work in cities like Singapore, Bangkok and Jakarta will bring huge benefits.<\/p>\n

But trade is key to the mutual progress of both sides of our ties, which is why the UK is determined to improve and develop trading relations, and we are making progress. Last year, UK global exports rose 9.2% (\u00a352.8 billion) to \u00a3628.8 billion in the year between April 2017 and the end of March 2018, driven in large part by increased trade with fast-growing nations outside the EU, such as those in ASEAN<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

Opportunities for increased trade between the UK and ASEAN<\/abbr> will offer benefits to both our economies. That is why I am determined to help ensure that the people of both ASEAN<\/abbr> and the UK continue to benefit over the next 50 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opinion editorial by Baroness Fairhead CBE, published in the Diplomat, on ASEAN’s importance in the UK\u2019s drive to increase trade with countries around the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92626"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}