On 18 March, Australia and the Republic of Korea (ROK) held the second Australia-ROK Senior Officials’ Policy Dialogue on our engagement with Southeast Asia and ASEAN.

During the meeting, which was held virtually, senior officials discussed priorities for cooperation with Southeast Asian partners, engagement with ASEAN including on the crisis in Myanmar, and the region’s economic recovery from COVID-19. Officials also discussed the successful entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and our newly signed Memorandum of Understanding on a Digital Cooperation Initiative in Southeast Asia.

Underscoring our shared commitment to the region, senior officials agreed to deepen cooperation through a number of initiatives in 2022. We will co-host a forum on maritime infrastructure, prioritise our support for ACMECS (a Mekong subregion cooperation framework) and water resources management in the Mekong subregion, and engage our Southeast Asian partners on cyber and emerging technology. We discussed jointly proposing with Cambodia an East Asia Summit leaders’ statement on women’s economic empowerment.

The Australian delegation was led by Acting First Assistant Secretary Southeast Asia Regional Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ray Marcelo. The Korean delegation was led by Director General ASEAN and Southeast Asian Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eui-hae Cecilia Chung.