Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will make a statement on his Department’s strategy for trade with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

ASEAN member states accounted for over £32bn of UK trade in 2016. As we expand our global trade, it is vital that we work with businesses and governments to build on these important relationships.

We have a number of high-level strategic dialogues and working groups with ASEAN countries, and my department has made several ministerial visits in the last year, as have our three Trade Envoys who cover the ASEAN region.

We are recruiting Her Britannic Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for the Asia-Pacific region, which includes the ASEAN countries. The HMTC will oversee our trade and investment strategy for ASEAN and the wider region.