Minister for the Indo-Pacific Catherine West recently visited Indonesia with a focus on green growth and for meetings with the permanent representatives to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as the UK enters its fourth year as an ASEAN Dialogue Partner. The Minister also travelled to Timor-Leste to reaffirm UK support for the country’s application to join ASEAN.

UKABC Partner, Informed Solutions has launched a new dynamic AI Readiness Service, which is designed to accelerate organisations’ understanding of readiness and capabilities to take advantage of AI for operational and service efficiency.

Allen Lai, Director-ASEAN of the UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC), recently participated in the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) meeting with the Joint Business Councils (JBCs) in Penang, where Malaysia’s Chairmanship of ASEAN-BAC 2025 was officially launched.

On Thursday 16 January, the UK and Malaysia held the inaugural ministerial-led Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) meeting. The Joint Statement following the meeting between The UK Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security, Douglas Alexander MP, and Malaysian Minister for Investment, Trade and Industry, Tengku Zafrul Aziz can be read here.

UKABC Chief Executive Ian Gibbons OBE was delighted to host the UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC) roundtable for The Honourable Tengku Zafrul Aziz, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia on Friday in London. This roundtable, delivered in partnership with Standard Chartered Malaysia and the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (BMCC), followed hard on the heels of the highly productive roundtable with captains of industry hosted by Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim and the first UK-Malaysia Joint Economic and Trade Committee meeting on Thursday 16 January.

UKABC Chair Lord Vaizey and Chief Executive Ian Gibbons OBE joined senior UK business leaders for a ‘Captains of Industry’ roundtable hosted during the visit of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia to the UK.

UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions) is a flagship programme under the UK’s International Climate Finance (ICF) portfolio. The programme is jointly governed and funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). The UK is committed to tackling climate change and is investing £11.6bn via the UK’s International Climate Finance (ICF) portfolio over the five years to March 2026.

Many congratulations to UKABC's Chief Executive, Ian Gibbons, who was awarded an OBE in HM The King's New Year Honours List 2025.

The Department for Business and Trade’s Free Trade Agreement Utilisation Team has created a series of guidance documents explaining the benefits of CPTPP and how companies can utilise the agreement, including guidance on proving rules of origin, accessing simpler customs, and benefiting from zero tariffs. There is also detailed information on different sectors and market opportunities and the steps companies need to take to utilise the agreement.

The UK has today officially joined CPTPP as a fully-fledged member, potentially boosting the UK economy by £2 billion a year in the long run. CPTPP is a major trade bloc whose members - Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and now the UK – have a combined GDP of £12 trillion.

Mr. Martin Kent and Ambassador Sarah Tiffin discuss how the UK and ASEAN are forging greater economic and people-to-people ties. ASEAN is an engine room of global growth. It is home to around 680 million people and fast-growing, innovative economies. The region is collectively equivalent to the fifth-largest economy in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook for October.

UKABC was delighted to host HMTC Martin Kent and David Johnstone from the Department for Business and Trade for a tour de force covering updates on ASEAN and the wider Asia Pacific region from both a bilateral and wider regional political and commercial perspective.

Following a visit earlier this year by Martin Kent, His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific, the UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC) was pleased to work in partnership with the Department for Business and Trade and The British High Commission in Brunei to deliver the first-ever UK Trade Mission to Brunei Darussalam. 12 companies joined us on the mission which ran from 25-27 November 2024.

The UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC) was delighted to support the successful Indonesian Investment Forum (IIF) at the Raffles Hotel London. This annual event was co-hosted by the Indonesian Ministry of Investment and Downstream Industry (BPKM) through the Indonesian Investment Promotion Centre (IIPC) and the Indonesian Embassy in London.

UKABC was honoured to host a high-level delegation from the Philippine Government including Secretaries leading the Departments of Finance, Energy and Budget and Management. On this occasion, we were delighted to also be joined by the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs and the Deputy Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Philippines Central Bank).

UKABC was delighted to break new ground in partnership with the UAE-UK Business Council and deliver a joint roundtable to discuss the UAE-ASEAN trade corridor and the opportunities this presents for UK businesses.

Allen Lai, UKABC’s Director – ASEAN, expertly chaired an insightful panel discussion focused on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific highlighting ASEAN Centrality. This panel featured Rhiannon Harries, UK Deputy Trade Commissioner for ASEAN at the Department for Business and Trade, Paul Thoppil, Canada’s Indo-Pacific Trade Representative, Nicholas Moore AO, Australia’s Special Trade Envoy for Southeast Asia and Bernardino Vega, ASEAN BAC Indonesia Alternative Chair.

ASEAN is one of the fastest-growing parts of the global economy, with 700 million people, and many nations with strong and resilient economies. There is a real appetite to engage with the UK. As we rightly pivot back to better relations with the EU, we mustn’t lose sight of our need to continually engage with ASEAN…

UKABC’s Chair, Lord Vaizey of Didcot, and Chief Executive, Ian Gibbons led the UK’s business delegation and UK business programme during the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ABIS) and Outlook on the Indo-Pacific Forum in Vientiane, Laos from the 8-11 October.

The global accountancy body – ACCA – is working with the UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC) to promote international business and trade in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The UKABC-led events – where ACCA is principal sponsor – will see government, business, and trade leaders discuss issues that matter to businesses looking to enter and extend their commercial footprint in the region.