UK-ASEAN Business Council CEO, Ian Gibbons OBE, is delighted to announce that Siderise has joined the UK‑ASEAN Business Council as a new member.

ASEAN must be inclusive - not only working with big business, but especially for MSMEs and micro enterprises. This was the key message from Joey Concepcion III, ASEAN BAC Chair 2026, at the first Joint Business Council meeting for the year.

Brunei Darussalam is advancing a carefully sequenced economic transformation - strengthening fiscal resilience, accelerating diversification, and pursuing a pragmatic energy transition aligned with long-term sustainability. As the country broadens its economic base beyond upstream hydrocarbons, there is a strong policy focus on downstream and value-added activities, alongside the development of new growth sectors, modern infrastructure, and future-ready human capital.

As a member of the Joint Business Councils (JBC), UKABC is delighted to extend an invitation by the ASEAN Business and Advisory Council (BAC) to participate in the ASEAN Business Barometer Survey.

UKABC is pleased to publish this thought leadership article from Pearson on ‘AI and the Future of Work in Southeast Asia: Fixing the Skills Gap’. Read on for the thoughts of Craig McFarlane, Vice President APAC, Pearson Enterprise Learning & Skills, on the impact of AI on the future of work in ASEAN. Craig also introduces the work that Pearson is leading to demonstrate how AI-driven growth can be inclusive, sustainable, and transformative.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy spoke at the UK Post Ministerial Conference with ASEAN member states, highlighting achievements under the UK's Dialogue Partnership.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Kingdom today officially launched the ASEAN-UK Health Security Partnership Programme (HSP), a five-year programme, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as a major new initiative aimed at strengthening Southeast Asia’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to health threats.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.