(VOVworld)- UK Prime Minister David Cameron is on a tour of Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore. This is the Prime Minister’s first visit outside Europe since he was re-elected in May. The visit aims to boost economic and trade ties between the UK and Southeast Asian countries and seek opportunities for cooperation in counter-terrorism, sea transport and aviation.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron visits Vietnam |
Southeast Asia is a huge potential investment and trade partner. In recent years, major economies have shifted their strategic focus to the Asia Pacific and cited the importance of Southeast Asia. The US is pursuing a “pivot” policy, India is promoting a Look East policy, Russia is pursuing a “Regional Priority” and the EU a “Soft Power” foreign policy. Following this trend, the UK government is seeking its own cooperation opportunities in the region.
The most important target is economic
Trade between the UK and Southeast Asia remains modest. The UK’s exports to Southeast Asia totaled 15 billion USD last year. Amidst economic difficulties in Europe, the UK has decided to seek trade partners outside Europe. The UK Prime Minister’s tour of Southeast Asia sends the message that the UK wants to diversify its economic relations and is ready to change. By expanding trade activities to Southeast Asia, the UK hopes to increase its export value to 15 trillion USD by 2020. That’s why on this tour Mr. Cameron is accompanied by 30 British business leaders who hope to sign deals worth more than 1.2 billion USD.
In Indonesia, Cameron promised credits worth 1.5 billion USD for infrastructure projects to help boost increase Indonesia’s exports to the UK. The two countries signed several agreements on shipping, research and civil space.
In Vietnam, the UK Prime Minister attended events in Hanoi and met with local businesses in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest economic hub. The UK ranks 3rd among EU investors in Vietnam with 204 projects worth nearly 3.2 billion USD. This first visit to Vietnam by a UK Prime Minister inspired a series of trade promotion activities. The UK and Vietnamese Prime Ministers discussed the signing of a Free Trade Agreement between ASEAN and the EU which will increase the UK’s export value by 4.5 billion USD annually.
Further involvement in regional and global security issues
Since his reelection in May, the UK Prime Minister has pushed the fight against the self-proclaimed Islamic State. During his visits to Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s two largest Islamic populations, anti-US cooperation was discussed. With increasing numbers of Indonesian and Malaysian people joining the IS, David Cameron pledged to increase financial and technological support to the two countries to slow the recruitment of extremists on the internet.
In regard to conflicts in the East Sea, one of the region’s burning issues, Prime Minister Cameron reiterated the UK’s stance that tensions in the East Sea must be resolved on the basis of international law and that any unilateral provocation threatens stability in the region and global prosperity.
The Asian Development Bank forecasts that ASEAN will achieve economic growth rates of 4.5% in 2015 and 5.1% in 2016 and ASEAN will become the world’s largest common market by 2030. The ASEAN Economic Community, which will be formed later this year, will become a large market with 650 million people. With a growth rate of 2.8% last year, the UK surpassed France to become the second largest economy in Europe after Germany. During Prime Minister Cameron’s tour of Southeast Asia, the UK wants to tighten its relations with rapidly emerging markets in the region to realize its dream of becoming the West’s largest economy.