Building economic, cultural and trade ties between UK and Asean

THIS week I am visiting Singapore and Vietnam to build upon the strong economic, cultural and trade ties between the UK and Asean. In the 50 years since Singaporean independence, economic and trade relationships between the UK and Singapore have flourished, with half of all exports to Asean going directly to Singapore, our largest market by a wide margin.

The UK has strong cultural links with Singapore. On the sporting front, the Barclays Asia Trophy has been held biennially since 2003 and is the only Premier League-affiliated competition to take place outside England.

Looking to future generations, the British Council recently launched a global tie-up with Aardman Animations for English teaching which is being piloted in Singapore with an innovative language curriculum built around Aardman's characters.