As featured in the newly released Investing in ASEAN 2025|2026 publication, UKABC Chair, The Rt Hon. the Lord Vaizey of Didcot, shares his perspective on the UK’s growing strategic partnership with ASEAN. In his op-ed, Lord Vaizey outlines the economic opportunities for UK businesses across the region and highlights the significance of deepening digital, trade, and sustainability cooperation.

The UK-ASEAN Business Council was delighted to host Matt Western MP, UK Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, on 4 June for an exclusive UKABC partner briefing. This was the second in our series of dialogues with UK Trade Envoys following our initial session with Naz Shah MP.

UKABC congratulates The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) and IEG Campus (Intelli Education Group) on their strategic partnership, signed in Kuala Lumpur in the presence of George Freeman MP, the UK Trade Envoy to Malaysia. This collaboration enables IEG Campus students to access CISI programmes in financial services and ethical AI.

UKABC Partners participated in a roundtable discussion, hosted by BP plc, with the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), focusing on the ASEAN Power Grid and strategies to achieve Carbon Neutrality across the region.

Allen Lai, UKABC’s Director of ASEAN and Corporate Affairs, participated in the 12th ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting (AFMGM), held in Malaysia.

UKABC Partners participated in a roundtable discussion, hosted by BP plc, with the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), focusing on the ASEAN Power Grid and strategies to achieve Carbon Neutrality across the region.

Lord Vaizey, Ian Gibbons, and Ben Raby attended a lunch discussion hosted by Cheong Boon Png, Chair of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), in London this week. We were delighted that UKABC partners, including Arup, AstraZeneca, KPMG, Mott MacDonald, Prudential plc and Standard Chartered were able to join us for the opportunity to engage in discussions and explore broader regional ASEAN collaboration amidst current economic trends and challenges. BAE Systems, Element Materials Technology, and Plexal were also present.

UKABC was delighted to work alongside the UK Department for Business and Trade and the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry to host a briefing and reception to celebrate the inaugural UK-Philippines Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).

As part of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT)’s ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the Indo-Pacific’ roadshow [4-13 March], UKABC hosted a briefing session on the latest ASEAN economic updates with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

Over 120 senior industry and government figures from across ASEAN and the UK gathered in person for the UK-ASEAN Business Forum 2025 – UKABC’s annual flagship event in support of UK-ASEAN bilateral trade, investment, and government engagement.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and ASEAN Business Advisory Council Malaysia (ASEAN-BAC Malaysia) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate in key areas, including policy advocacy, sustainability, and capacity building.

Lord Vaizey, as Chair of the UK-ASEAN Business Council, spoke during last week’s House of Lords debate on the importance of continuing to grow the UK’s trade and investment partnership with Southeast Asia.

Ian Gibbons OBE, the Chief Executive of UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC), recently met with His Excellency, Mr. Do Minh Hung, Vietnam Ambassador to the United Kingdom to discuss further deepening Vietnam’s bilateral ties with the UK.

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.