DHAKA, Aug 5, 2021 (BSS) - The United Kingdom (UK) has agreed a new
partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
today.

  The partnership, which is the first ASEAN has agreed in 25 years,
will lead to closer cooperation between the UK and the region on a
range of issues such as trade, investment, climate change, the
environment, science and technology, and education, said a press
release disseminated by British High Commission here.

  The UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will join a virtual ceremony
with ASEAN Foreign Ministers where they will welcome the UK as an
ASEAN 'Dialogue Partner', it added.

   Since the UK submitted its application to become a Dialogue Partner
in June 2020, the Foreign Secretary has attended two UK-ASEAN
Ministerial Meetings and hosted the ASEAN Chair at the G7 Foreign &
Development Ministers meeting in May.

  ASEAN is an influential group of ten member countries in the
Indo-Pacific while Dialogue Partner status puts the UK at the heart of
the Indo-Pacific.

   The UK will work with ASEAN and its members on key shared
challenges such as maritime security and transnational crime, boost
our economies through trade, and strengthen our cooperation on issues
such COVID-19 and climate change.

   "This is a landmark moment in the UK's tilt towards the Indo
Pacific. Our closer ties with ASEAN will help create green jobs,
reinforce our security cooperation, promote tech and science
partnerships, and safeguard key pillars of international law like the
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea," Dominic Raab said.