(AseanAll) —  At the invitation of the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia, the SecretaryGeneral of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, paid a working visit to Canberra and Sydney, from 26 to 29 November 2024. 

During this working visit, the Secretary-General visited both Canberra and Sydney, and engaged with a broad range of Australian Government representatives, including the Governor-General of Australia, the Hon Samantha Mostyn AC, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon Richard Marles MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, Minister for Education, the Hon Jason Clare MP, and Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for a Future Made In Australia, the Hon Tim Ayres. 

The Secretary-General also engaged with the Premier of New South Wales, the Hon Chris Minns MP, the NSW Minister for Industry and Trade, the Hon Anoulack Chanthivong MP, Members of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Government Officials, the business community, youth and student representatives, academia, think tanks, creative industry and the media. 

The Secretary-General of ASEAN and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong formally launched the ASEAN-Australia Centre, which will deepen business, education, cultural and community connections. 

Across meetings both sides stressed the importance of upholding ASEAN Centrality and the rules-based regional architecture, strengthening the East Asia Summit as the premier Leader-led strategic forum in the region, and the importance of practical cooperation through the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. Both sides discussed ways to strengthen ASEAN-Australia cooperation to contribute to peace, stability and prosperity in the region, including by promoting strategic trust and open channels of communication, to reduce the risks of misunderstandings and miscalculation and prevent conflict in our region. 

The working visit builds on the momentum in the ASEAN-Australia relationship following the Special Summit to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Dialogue Relations held in Melbourne in March of this year. 

Both sides welcomed progress on the implementation of initiatives and commitments made at the Special Summit and under the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including to strengthen political-security cooperation, further deepen economic ties – including through implementation of Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 – and to strengthen people-to-people linkages. 

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen substantive, meaningful and mutually beneficial cooperation under the ASEAN-Australia Plan of Action for the period 2025-2029, and looked forward to the next fifty years of our partnership.