Australia prioritizes closer cooperation with Southeast Asia
(VOVWORLD) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pledged to support Southeast Asia with a package of 482 million USD as he seeks to deepen engagement with the region at the center of a new Indo-Pacific security campaign.
 Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (R) meets Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta on June 6, 2022 (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
Albanese told a joint news conference after a two-hour meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta on Monday that deepening engagement with Southeast Asia is a priority for his government. ASEAN and ASEAN-led institutions are at the absolute center of Australia’s vision for the Indo-Pacific, he said.
Albanese said Canberra will appoint a high-level envoy to ASEAN and establish a Southeast Asia office in the department of foreign affairs and trade. In addition, his government will prepare an ASEAN economic strategy to take advantage of current and future export and investment opportunities across key ASEAN markets until 2040.