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50 years of ASEAN-Australia relations
20 March 2024
Outcomes of the 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit
A wrap-up of the major initiatives and bilateral agreements announced at the 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit.
The 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit held over three days in March marked the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Australia Dialogue Relations. Co-hosted by Australia and Laos, which holds the ASEAN Chairmanship for 2024, the theme for the Summit was 鈥楢 Partnership for the Future鈥�.
As well as the leaders鈥� plenary and retreat, events focused on key sectors and themes outlined in , which as 鈥渢he most significant upgrade of Australia鈥檚 economic engagement with ASEAN for a generation鈥�. He also noted that 鈥渕ore than any other region, Southeast Asia is where Australia鈥檚 future lies鈥�.
Between the many meetings and events 鈥� including a CEO Business Forum, an SME Conference for small and medium enterprises, an Emerging Leaders Dialogue, a and a 鈥� the Australian Government announced a number of . These include:
鈥斕鼳听$2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility, managed by Export Finance Australia, to boost Australian trade and investment in the region, particularly in the areas of clean energy and infrastructure development.
听鈥斕�$140 million to extend the Partnerships for Infrastructure Program to improve regional infrastructure development.
鈥斕齌he appointment of 10 private sector Business Champions to facilitate greater commercial links between Australia and Southeast Asia.
鈥斕齌he launch of regional technology 鈥楲anding Pads鈥� in Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City to boost technology services exports to Southeast Asian markets.
鈥斕齀mproved visa access for travel between Australia and the region with Business Visitor visas extended from three to five years, and the ten-year Frequent Traveller stream extended to eligible ASEAN Member States and Timor-Leste.
鈥斕齊egional hub locations for investment 鈥楧eal Teams鈥� in Singapore, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City to help identify pipelines for investment opportunities across Southeast Asia.
鈥斕鼳 dedicated ASEAN-Australia Centre to drive greater Southeast Asia literacy within Australia and promote greater investment, collaboration and cooperation.
鈥斕齇ver 75 new Aus4ASEAN Scholarships, some co-funded by universities, and 55 Fellowships for emerging leaders.
鈥斕鼸nglish-language training for Timor-Leste to support its path to full ASEAN membership (see Timor-Leste below).
鈥斕鼳 further $222.5 million to the Mekong-Australia Partnership to support the resilience of the Mekong subregion and address challenges such as water security and transnational crime.
鈥斕鼳 $6.9 million Energy Cooperation Package under the Aus4ASEAN Futures Initiative to support the ASEAN Centre for Energy and establish the ASEAN Centre for Climate Change.
鈥斕鼳 $10 million Climate and Clean Energy Window as part of the Southeast Asia Government-to-Government program announced in 2023 to bolster joint efforts on climate change and clean energy.
鈥斕�$64 million to enhance Australia鈥檚 Southeast Asia Maritime Partnerships Initiative.
Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (L) and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (R) shake hands after signing an Australia-Laos Comprehensive Partnership. Credit: Flickr/2024 ASEAN Special Summit; Photo by Steve Christo/ASEAN
As well as the major announcements, there were updates in bilateral relationships, outlined below starting with Summit co-chair, Laos.听
Laos
Australia and Laos , including cooperation in four areas: people, education and human resource development; economics, trade and investment; climate, environment and energy; and defence and law enforcement. The partnership will support Laos to maximise sustainable development in agriculture and food, resources and green energy, key areas identified in Australia鈥檚听.
Australia also committed $3 million to Monash University鈥檚 World Mosquito Program to assist in the elimination of dengue fever in Laos.
Brunei
Australia and Brunei elevated their bilateral relationship to a听Comprehensive Partnership听in June 2023. At the Summit, the leaders of both countries reiterated the importance of to implement the partnership. They committed to looking for practical ways to bolster the cooperation identified in the partnership across a range of areas including economic relations, climate change, food security, defence, security, maritime, people-to-people exchanges and social-cultural ties.
颁补尘产辞诲颈补听
Australia and Cambodia met on the sidelines of the Summit. 鈥淎ustralia will continue to work with Cambodia on ASEAN priorities鈥�. The听 that Prime Minister Hun Manet 鈥渟uggested that relevant institutions of the two countries work more actively to increase the exchange of trade and investment, encourage university-to-university cooperation focusing on science, and agricultural research and development, as well as cooperation on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and labour鈥�. The leaders signed an agreement on air transport services, which is expected to boost tourism between the two countries.
Indonesia
Outgoing President Joko Widodo took a limited delegation to the Summit and there was no official statement after the bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Albanese.听
In a听press statement听before leaving for the Summit, he would 鈥渃ontinue pushing for the strengthening of economic integration, energy transition, and digital transformation鈥�. He also said Indonesia 鈥渨ill keep pushing for cooperation on electric vehicles鈥�.
In November 2023, Indonesia and Australia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on听听to 鈥渁dvance mutually beneficial cooperation on battery manufacturing, critical minerals processing and other aspects of the electric vehicle ecosystem鈥�. At the Summit, President Widodo听said听he hoped that the MoU could be implemented through the formation of a joint steering committee, and encouraged in relation to nickel processing.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan (L) and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (R) exchange a Memorandum of Understanding overseen by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim (2nd, L), and the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese (2nd, R). Credit: Flickr/2024 ASEAN Special Summit; Photo by Steve Christo/ASEAN
Malaysia
The Australian and Malaysian prime ministers at the 2nd Australia-Malaysia Annual Leaders鈥� Meeting and .
These initiatives include collaboration between Australian and Malaysian technology companies to boost two-way investment in the digital economy; cooperation on maritime decarbonisation and clean energy to reduce shipping emissions and drive uptake on renewable energy; a new Maritime Cooperation Package to strengthen capability in maritime domain awareness and build expertise in international law of the sea and marine environmental protection; a closer working relationship on cyber security threats and cyber skills training; and a new MoU for collaboration in youth vocational training and sports.
The two countries also highlighted their longstanding cooperation on education and the benefits of two-way exchange and encouraged further engagement between academic institutions to empower regional voices. They agreed to a practical arrangement on the implementation of the . Australia also announced the Australia-Malaysia Institutional Strengthening Program, which aims to facilitate government agency exchanges and advance governance reforms.
Philippines
The Summit started with an historic , where he highlighted the upgraded听Strategic Partnership听signed between Australia and the Philippines in 2023.
A new MoU between the two countries includes听: enhanced maritime cooperation; cyber and critical technology and cooperation on the digital economy; and .
Australia also announced a $20 million investment to support the Philippines to reform and improve access to its justice system.
Singapore
The (CSP) will mark its 10th anniversary in 2025. The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to expanding bilateral cooperation and discussed initiatives for the next phase of the CSP.
The leaders formalised the between the two countries鈥� port authorities, providing an avenue for the export of Australia's renewable energy; adopted a set of jointly formulated that will support cross-border electricity trade; and announced the first recipients awarded grants under the $20 million Go-Green Co-Innovation Program, aimed at supporting small and medium-sized businesses to develop sustainable products and services.
They also announced between Australian and Singaporean scientists on sustainability, innovation and food technology, and a new agreement between border agencies on border security and cross-border crime.
Thailand
In a news briefing issued by the听Thai Government, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin noted two key areas that were highlighted at the Summit: in areas such as trade and investment, infrastructure development and people-to-people linkages; and听. Speaking to reporters, Prime Minister Thavisin听said听his government is by developing an ecosystem for electric vehicles. This is part of a green agenda which includes advancing the green economy and the clean energy transition, investing in renewable energy and issuing green bonds to incentivise the private sector, and finding solutions to transboundary haze and fine particles pollution.
He also听noted听Thailand鈥檚 initiative to scale up the delivery of to Myanmar as part of ASEAN鈥檚 efforts to advance the 5-Point Consensus, 鈥渋n the hope that it will lead to a dialogue among stakeholders, and a platform for Myanmar鈥檚 engagement with the international community鈥�.
Timor-Leste
In 2022, ASEAN members听agreed听in principle to and in 2023听. To achieve full ASEAN membership, Timor-Leste must meet a number of criteria including听, infrastructure and logistics to host ASEAN meetings and having sufficient English-speaking personnel in relevant ministries and agencies.
At the Summit, to continue providing capacity building assistance to Timor-Leste on the implementation of the Roadmap to full ASEAN membership. Australia also听 to support Timor-Leste鈥檚 path to full membership and enable it to engage more effectively in ASEAN activities particularly in the areas of trade and diplomacy where English is widely used internationally.听
Vietnam
As part of the major upgrade of the Australia鈥揤ietnam relationship to a , several new initiatives were announced that build on established collaboration in : defence and security; economic engagement; and education.
In defence and security, a new Peacekeeping Partnership Arrangement aims to solidify Australia鈥檚 support to Vietnam鈥檚 peacekeeping efforts. The Australia-Vietnam Security Dialogue was also elevated to Ministerial level. On economic engagement, the two countries agreed to cooperation between the respective agencies responsible for trade and investment to encourage trade in new commodities in agriculture. A new visa will also enable 1,000 Vietnamese workers to work in rural and regional Australia to fill labour gaps in the agricultural sector. In education, Australia and Vietnam renewed a framework for cooperation between education institutions to deliver the workforce skills of the future.
There were also new agreements between maritime and science agencies to support Vietnam鈥檚 management of its maritime resources, including through climate change adaptation. And new ministerial dialogues in priority areas, including an annual ministerial dialogue on energy and resources and critical minerals supply chains.
On the final day of the Summit, the Australian Prime Minister and ASEAN leaders adopted the 鈥樷��.听
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Hero image credit: Flickr/2024 ASEAN Special Summit; Photo by Andrew Taylor/ASEAN