VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

British Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste Moazzam Malik said the Southeast Asian region or ASEAN is the engine for the world’s economy in the 21st century. The reason is that last year, the economic growth in the region was around 5.2 percent. Therefore, the United Kingdom (UK) wants relationship with ASEAN, a community that houses countries in the Southeast Asia region, can be deepened. During the recent UK-ASEAN Leadership meeting in Jakarta, Moazzam Malik said the future of the economy was not only talking about India and China but also ASEAN.

“So, the ASEAN is a very important region for the future of world economy. And If the ASEAN comes together and succeeds, then Indonesia got succeeded. The future of the world economy will depend not only on India and China, but also on the ASEAN and Indonesia. So for the UK, we see Indonesia and the ASEAN as really one of the engines of the global economy over the 21st century, Moazzam Malik said.

Furthermore Moazzam Malik believes that ASEAN's economic potential in the future is based on several elements, including the population, which is very large, and the level of economic growth, which is good. Therefore, to strengthen cooperation between the UK and ASEAN, Moazzam invited young Southeast Asian leaders to discuss in the UK-ASEAN Leadership program. The UK-ASEAN Leadership Program is one of the activities carried out by the British Government in collaboration with an international non-profit organization from Singapore, Common Purpose to produce cross-border leaders. (VOI/Rezha/AHM)