This week in Australian foreign affairs: Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 announced, Albanese meets with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in margins of East Asia Summit, 7th Australia-China High Level Dialogue held in Beijing, and more.

On 6 September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Trade Don Farrell jointly launched Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, designed to “deepen Australia’s economic engagement with our region and ensure our shared future prosperity.” The Strategy was developed by Special Envoy for Southeast Asia Nicholas Moore, and announced by Albanese at the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Forum in Jakarta. Moore “identified 10 priority sectors offering the most potential for growth: agriculture and food; resources; green energy transition; infrastructure; education and skills; visitor economy; healthcare; digital economy, professional and financial services; and creative industries.” Albanese committed to immediately supporting three initiatives “that go to the heart of the strategy and are an investment in Australia’s economic future” – namely, $70.2 million over four years to investment deal teams “who will be based in the ASEAN region and will work with Australian investors, Southeast Asian businesses and governments to identify and facilitate investment opportunities”, $19.2 million over four years for a Southeast Asia business exchange, and $6 million over four years towards a placements and internships pilot program for young professionals. Albanese stated that the strategy “reaffirms the Australian Government’s commitment to deepening our engagement with Southeast Asia.”

Albanese met with China’s Premier Li Qiang on 7 September in the margins of the East Asia Summit. The pair had a “frank and constructive discussion, welcomed ongoing progress in stabilising our bilateral relationship, and the renewed engagement between our two countries.” They also “agreed on the value of expanding cooperation in areas of shared interest.” Albanese noted that he “raised range of bilateral and other issues of importance to Australia, including remaining trade impediments, consular cases and human rights” and that the pair “discussed and shared perspectives on regional and international security issues.” Moreover, Albanese stated that he “look[s] forward to visiting China later this year to mark the 50^th anniversary of Prime Minister Whitlam’s historic visit.”

The 7th Australia-China High Level Dialogue was held in Beijing on 7 September. It “provid[ed] a platform for senior representatives from industry, government, academia, media and the arts to exchange perspectives across the breadth of Australia and China’s bilateral relationship.” Former Trade Minister, the Hon Dr Craig Emerson, co-chaired the Dialogue as the head of the Australian delegation. In addition, both former Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Jan Adams “participate[d] as a delegate and session lead”. Wong noted that this marked the “first time the Dialogue has been held since early 2020” and that it “represents another step towards increasing bilateral engagement and stabilising our relationship with China.” She also stated that “the resumption of the Dialogue was one of the outcomes of my meeting with China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, in Beijing in December.”

On 7 September, Wong published an opinion piece in the Australian Financial Review, titled “In time of great competition, complacency is not an option.” She emphasised that the Government is prioritising increased two-way trade and investment with Southeast Asia, acknowledging the “vast” potential. Wong acknowledged that “our trade and investment with the region has not kept pace with the growth of Southeast Asian economies” and that “while Southeast Asia has grown rapidly, the share of Australia’s overall trade in the region has flatlined over the past 15 years.” She referred to the announcement of the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, stating that “by boosting Australia’s economic ties with Southeast Asia, we are advancing our shared interests in a secure and prosperous region.”

Farrrell issued a statement on 7 September noting that Australia’s tariff-free raw sugar exports to the United Kingdom (UK) have resumed for the first time in 50 years under the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement, “heralding the reopening of a valuable market for the Queensland sugar industry.” He noted that the agreement “provides Australian agricultural exporters access to the UK market not experienced since the UK joined the European Economic Community (as it then was) on 1 January 1973.”

On 6 September, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Tim Watts delivered an address on the 50^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Australia, as well as Vietnam’s 78^th National Day. Watts reflected on the bilateral relationship, noting that “our relationship is almost unrecognisable from its origins half a century ago, with that small embassy in Hanoi.” He emphasised that the development of the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 “is a concrete step in our ambitions to deepening our economic ties in Southeast Asia, including with Vietnam” and that “we know that the region’s success is our success.” Watts also noted that “as we look to the future of our bilateral relationship, we’ll continue to cooperate on the issues that matter to us, and that matter to our region … includ[ing] continuing to work together with ASEAN, which is so central to our region.”

Isabella Keith is a weekly columnist for Australian Outlook. She is also a Research Assistant, Sessional Academic, and Honours student in Law at the Australian National University, with a focus on international law. Isabella attended the AIIA #NextGen study tour to South Korea last year, and was also a delegate to the AIIA’s Australia-Korea-New Zealand and Australia-United States-Japan Policy Forums. She can be found on Twitter here.

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