I will meet Australia's key strategic and economic partners from the region at the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Australia Summit, and the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Vientiane, Laos, from 7-8 September.
These summits are an excellent opportunity for regional leaders to discuss how we can work together to make our region safer and more prosperous.
As a group, ASEAN is Australia’s second-largest trading partner. Last year, our bilateral trade was worth almost $100 billion and our two-way investment grew 12 per cent from 2014 to over $227 billion.
It is important this progress continues and I look forward to discussing with ASEAN leaders how we can deepen our economic and security partnership.
Australia is a key strategic partner of ASEAN. In recognition of this, in 2014, it was agreed that the ASEAN-Australia Summit will be held biennially starting in 2016.
Australia is a strong supporter of the East Asia Summit, which is the only institution that brings together all the big players in our region, including eight of our top ten trading partners, to address political, strategic and economic challenges.
I anticipate frank discussion with EAS leaders’ about the security challenges we are facing as a region and how we can work together to solve them.
Australia’s future prosperity and stability are best served when we engage actively in our region and shape its course.