I will be travelling to Vientiane, Laos, to attend the ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand Leaders' Summit on 30 November. The Summit will provide an excellent opportunity to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Australia's dialogue relationship with ASEAN and explore ways to deepen our economic, political, strategic and people-to-people engagement.
It is hoped the Summit will launch negotiations on an ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand Free-Trade Agreement (FTA). This is an exciting development that will present Australian exporters with further commercial opportunities in this large market, with two-way trade valued at $32.8 billion in 2003-04.
My visit will also provide an opportunity to reinforce and strengthen the enduring links Australia enjoys with ASEAN. We have strong defence and security relations with ASEAN countries. A network of security dialogues, extensive defence cooperation and practical cooperation against terrorism is growing strongly.
Development cooperation remains an important element of Australia's agenda with ASEAN - to help support regional economic integration and to combat common regional challenges such as HIV-AIDS, avian influenza and people trafficking. During my visit, I will reiterate Australia's strong commitment to continuing to work with ASEAN to find practical ways to address these challenges.