Opening Speech
Hon Andrew Robb AO
ASEAN Business Forum
23 May 2022
As a small, open economy international trade and foreign investment has been critical to providing jobs and prosperity by Australians since European settlement over 200 years ago.
This remains as true today, as ever. For example, 72 percent of all we produce in agriculture is still exported.
Until 40 years ago 80 percent of our trade focussed on Europe and the United States. Today, just 40 years later 80 percent of our trade is with Asian countries.
Furthermore, as a group the ASEAN countries represent our second-largest trading partner, second only to China.
This is a remarkable story, and in part shines a light on the success of ASEAN following its formation in 1967.
Despite sceptical views over the first 25 years of the existence of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has proven the doubters wrong.
This regional association has successfully promoted regional peace and identity, successfully promoted peaceful settlement of disputes through dialogue and consultation and successfully fostered trade and prosperity through an open trading bloc.
It’s been done the Asian way, with its consensus-based style of cooperation.
A remarkable achievement across 10 member nations, encompassing more than 600 million people………a momentous development, transforming itself into it’s own rules-based, people-oriented community.
This achievement is all the more remarkable given that it grew out of the war-torn, bitterly divided Southeast Asia that characterised the 1960s and 1970s.
ASEAN has consistently and quietly delivered peace to one of the most balkanized regions in the world.
Australia has benefitted greatly from ASEAN’s contribution towards maintaining peace and enhancing stability in relations among its own members, arguably ASEAN’s single greatest achievement.
In this regard, Australia’s “dialogue partner” status with ASEAN has become a truly win-win situation for Australia and ASEAN.
This “dialogue partner” relationship has resulted in highly productive 2 yearly Summits, but just as importantly it gives Australia optional involvement in the more that 1000 internal workshops, forums, conferences, meetings and promotion held with the 10 member countries.
This “dialogue status” led to Australia appointing a dedicated ambassador and mission to ASEAN.
This has been a concrete expression of Australia’s support for ASEAN’s integration efforts. It has fostered the development of a wide range of ASEAN-Australian mechanisms for co-operation.
The 2018 ASEAN-Australia Summit in Sydney saw initiatives covering counter terrorism, counter trafficking in persons, cyber security, digital trade, defence, maritime, economic, urbanisation and infrastructure, connectivity, education, health, women, and peace and security.
The strength of this “dialogue partner” relationship also has underpinned the breadth and depth of trade agreements at the ASEAN level such as the ASEAN-Australian-New Zealand Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) and the recent conclusion of the world’s largest free trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), so ably led by ASEAN.
The trust and familiarity stemming from these regional agreements has had a material impact on the more targeted bi-lateral agreements between member nations and Australia, such as the recently concluded ‘Indonesia Australia – Comprehensive Economic Partnership’ (IA-CEPA), and the bi-lateral agreements with Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia.
As well, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia and New Zealand are members of the ‘Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership’ (CPTPP).
Australian businesses should closely study this range of agreements because they build effectively on the broader agreements with ASEAN.
A detailed look at ASEAN-Australia security co-operation further reinforces the depth of “dialogue partner” relations. The 2002 Bali bombings are an indelible reminder of the shared security concerns between Australia and Southeast Asia states.
ASEAN has served as a highly effective platform to establish security co-operation on a wide range of fronts such as naval exercises, seminars, workshops, working groups, counterterrorism, violent extremism, transnational crime, military training and maritime security co-operation, to name a few.
From a business point of view this level of co-operation, mutual respect and trust within our defence and security communities provides a wide range of potential commercial opportunities.
ASEAN’s success positions the community now to play a more pivotal role in Asia and global affairs given the emerging difficult geopolitical issues, and the challenge of climate change.
With intra-Asian trade now eclipsing trade with the United States, and America’s long-standing role as Asia’s trade and investment rule maker lost since President Trump turned his back on the Trans- Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement and the dispute resolution process of the World Trade Organisation, the centre of attention of trade liberalisation has shifted to Asia.
We’ve seen this leadership recently with ASEAN’s success in concluding the 16 member RCEP agreement, and with Indonesia’s success in concluding the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
The intense geopolitical transformation of the Indo-Pacific is going to require some hard decisions.
Australia sees ASEAN at the heart of the Indo-Pacific. The ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) underscores our strong commitment to ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN outlook on the Indo Pacific.
China is an undeniable threat to regional security interests, so continuing peace and prosperity will rely on reinforcing deterrence, with American security leadership a central feature.
But an effective American security balance in the region is only sustainable alongside economic leadership from the US. ASEAN is well placed to reinforce these concerns with Washington, about diminishing US economic influence in Asia.
CONCLUSION
The last two and a half COVID-affected years has seen serious setbacks for all economies around the world.
Further uncertainties could arise as financial sanctions against Russia, and COVID-related supply chain issues in China, create ripple effects for other economies.
As well, the security dynamics between the US and China are increasingly bleeding back into trade, investment, educational exchanges, scientific and medical research co-operation, people movement and much more.
Where issues between China and the US prove more debilitating, opportunities exist for ASEAN, together with other third parties such as Australia and India, to take meaningful collective action which changes the dynamic.
To this end, Australia can also learn more from our ASEAN friends about the Asian way. For example, the approach to China taken by other countries in the region, which despite having their own, sometimes acute challenges and concerns with Beijing, are still able to advocate their interests with China’s leaders yet benefit from trade that flows freely.
The future is rich with potential, but it will only be realised if we step up to the significant challenges along the way.