KUALA LUMPUR: Australia will launch a Southeast Asia Economy Strategy later this year which seeks to maximise its economic engagements and potentials with countries in the region, its Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.
She said Australia wants to deepen trade and investment relations with the region and from the engagements with leaders and people in Southeast Asia, economic development seem to be their first priority.
“So one of the things I was very focused on when we become government was to look at how we might maximise our economic engagement with the region.
“We are not Japan or the US or China, you know, we’re not as big an economy but the question I ask is, are we doing as much as we can in terms of economic engagement?,” she told Bernama in an interview as part of her recent two-day working visit here.
She said Australia’s special envoy for Southeast Asia Nicholas Moore has been tasked to lead consultations and engagements with businesses, governments and key stakeholders in formulating the strategy.
It will set out a pathway to strengthen Australia’s economic engagement with the region and to bolster two-way trade and grow Australian investment in the region.
Total Australia two-way trade with countries in Asean was A$127 billion (RM384.3 billion) in 2021, accounting to nearly 14 per cent of Australia’s overall trade. – BERNAMA
