The United Kingdom needs to provide more information about its strategies and objectives in engaging ASEAN amid Brexit uncertainties, Indonesian Ambassador to the UK Rizal Sukma has said.

“There are some policy pronouncements and declarations of intent but it would be easier if we could get more detailed information through strategic papers or policy papers on its engagement in Southeast Asia,” he said on the sidelines of an Indonesia-UK dialogue held by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta on Thursday.

He said the UK’s interest in ASEAN had been growing in the past year but the country did not carry out extensive activities to lay the foundation for comprehensive relations with the bloc.

“And maybe even after they leave the EU, it will definitely take more time to make the necessary adjustments and readjustments so that they can focus more on developing relations with ASEAN,” he said.

Under its Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the UK is due to leave the EU on Oct. 31, regardless of whether it has a transition deal to preserve a trading arrangement with the EU.

CSIS executive director Philips J. Vermonte said the UK could start prioritizing and strategizing its engagement with ASEAN after resolving Brexit.

“The UK should also understand that in the context of global change and the US-China rivalry, ASEAN will focus on creating a more peaceful and stable region, as well as functional cooperation. The UK has many potentials to involve […] through business and private sector engagement, as well as through historical and economic ties with Southeast Asia,” he said.

He added that it was important for the UK to realize that ASEAN had adopted a document that basically served as guidelines for all member states when talking about the Indo-Pacific region.

“In that case, it is important for the UK to be able to endorse it [ASEAN’s Outlook on Indo-Pacific] and so when speaking with ASEAN countries, they can refer to that document that more or less encourages functional cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.

Since earlier this year, the UK has promoted its “All of Asia” approach in which it plans to expand its presence in Southeast Asia by appointing a dedicated envoy and mission to ASEAN. The envoy is set to start working in the coming months.

However, for the past two decades, ASEAN has had a moratorium in place on expanding external relations through the establishment of new dialogue partnerships.

The UK’s new ambassador to Indonesia, Owen Jenkins, earlier said that the UK was aware that forging closer relations with ASEAN required a process of dialogue.

“It’s not something which we go and demand, it’s not something which is any one country’s gift to give, it’s a process of understanding where the UK can help, where the UK-ASEAN relationship can be stronger, for all our mutual benefits,” he told reporters last week.

Jenkins said that Dominic Raab in his first overseas visit as the UK’s foreign secretary discussed post-Brexit opportunities with ASEAN ministers on the sidelines of high level ASEAN meetings in Bangkok earlier this month.

“I hope we’re approaching it with some humility as well as with some ambition. We know how important that relationship can be. We see ASEAN really becoming such a pivotal organization for this whole region, not just for ASEAN members themselves but as the point which other people look to,” Jenkins said.

“[…] And the fact that ASEAN meetings in Bangkok attracted attendance from so far and wide across the Asia-Pacific region is a testament to that, and we want to be part of that.”

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