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.

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.

In Vientiane, the Foreign Secretary will position the UK as a key partner to the Indo-Pacific region by forging closer collaboration on areas including trade, climate change and health security. Marking his first official visit to the region, the summit will highlight this government’s plan to strengthen Britain’s influence with the global powers of tomorrow.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Act receives Royal Assent.

Singapore has formally ratified the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), becoming the second existing member to do so after Japan late last year.

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch formally signed the treaty confirming the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – the Indo-Pacific trade bloc now worth £12 trillion in GDP – in New Zealand today [Sunday 16th].