REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Prime Minister of United Kingdom, David Cameron, will touch down in Jakarta this afternoon, July 27, on the start of a four day visit to South East Asia. As well as boosting bilateral trade, the Prime Minister will also put his weight behind an EU-ASEAN deal. Becoming the first British Prime Minister to visit ASEAN Headquarters in Jakarta, he will call for the EU and ASEAN to jump start negotiations talks on a free trade agreement.

“We can also open up more markets for British businesses by leveraging the power of the EU's single market with 500 million consumers to secure bold, ambitious trade deals with these fastest, growing economies. The EU has shown this can be done with the trade agreement with Singapore and the recent breakthrough in talks with Vietnam but an EU ASEAN trade deal would really turbo charge growth across the single market. And I will be making the case in my discussions with Secretary General Le Luong Minh later today. Alongside an EU-US trade agreement, such deals would be like a shot in the arm for Europe's economy,” said the Prime Minister of UK, David Cameron on release statement received by ROL on Monday, July 27.

A deal between these two trading blocs has the potential to benefit the UK economy by £3 billion every year – nearly £120 per household – by creating one of the biggest free trade areas in the world with combined GDP of over $20 trillion.

Following on from the EU-Singapore FTA and on the back of recent progress on an EU-Vietnam trade deal, the Prime Minister hopes that the need for economic growth in Europe will spur on trade agreements with the rest of the world.

"These deals really do remove barriers and costs for British businesses. Just last Friday in Geneva, we moved a big step closer to an agreement that, if finalised in Nairobi in December, would eliminate tariffs on a wide range of information, communication and technology (ICT) products - exports worth £6 billion to the UK economy and supporting a UK industry worth £58 billion annually. It's further proof of how we can deliver economic security for hard-working people here in Britain by being an open, trade-minded nation and engaging with the world."said Cameron.

As the largest foreign investor in ASEAN, the EU should seize on this position to secure a new trade deal. Australia, Japan and China are already ahead of the game, having implemented free trade deals with the South East Asian bloc.

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