Experts assembling at the UK House of Commons on Tuesday will be asked to give their views on the country's relationships with the South-East Asian nations.
Three sets of panels featuring strategic, development and economic experts have been arranged. The MPs on the foreign affairs committee will be able to draw witness perspectives on what is being billed as an opportunity to understand the region’s own priorities and how the UK can fit with its partners on the other side of the world.
Indonesia is at the heart of the special Parliamentary session, as the country raised its profile and global standing in 2022, having served as president of the Group of 20.
In a turbulent year, the G20's role gave Asia a chance to define its own international interests, faced with Russia’s war in Ukraine and the global inflation and energy crisis. European countries have had their own awakening in 2022 and their ambitions in the Indo-Pacific must now be weighed against a changed security landscape much closer to home.
When I spoke to Simon McDonald, the former head of the foreign office last week, he backed efforts to overhaul the UK’s Integrated Review that was published only last week and made a “tilt” to the Indo-Pacific its central goal.
“The Integrated Review is a good piece of work but to me it is too ambitious,” he told The National. “It feels quite beginning of the 20th century rather than middle of the 21st century. We’re taking on too many tasks for a country of our size. I believe we must prioritise. Logically that begins with focusing on our neighbourhood.”
There is a base of mutual priorities, not least the multilateral rules that underpin world trade and economic ties
Rory Medcalf, the well-connected head of the National Security College at the Australian National University, was in London last week and he picked up on the use of the word "tilt" by the British.
His view was that the word itself was not helpful. It did not provide a defined outreach, neither for that matter was it adequate overall for a country to occasionally deploy an aircraft carrier or scatter a few troops to Pacific powers. What he wanted was a full-spectrum engagement across development, education, technology and space as well as military.
“In Australia, there’s a view [that] we want the UK engagement to be realistic, and I would say that about others on this side of the world,” he told a meeting at the Royal United Services Institute last week. “The same applies to the French and EU engagement in the Indo-Pacific.”
The EU has set out its own Indo-Pacific strategy, which foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell earlier this month reiterated was a priority for the bloc. This has three pillars around solidifying engagement with states and interests through the region; to avoid the assertion of primacy in the area through Chinese power projection, and to buttress against any Washington versus Beijing zero-sum dynamic in the future.
As the largest security actor in the EU, France has its own pro-active ambitions in the mega-region. French President Emmanuel Macron was in Bangkok at the weekend for Pacific Rim meetings, where he vowed to “progressively multiply” the country’s initiatives, especially in core South-East Asia.
As Prof Medcalf observed, the essence of the Indo-Pacific is the importance of the maritime presence that then grows across dimensions. And as Mr McDonald noted, the importance of the Middle East has been steadily augmented by the growth of Pacific countries.
Making the European aspirations a reality is an evolving challenge. Leaders in the UK have an extraordinary Indo-Pacific background. Fluent in Japanese, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt complements Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who at the G20 spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about closer ties.
Mr Hunt made a point of using the budget statement last week to make more defence spending in the years ahead, contingent on a revamp of the Integrated Review. This task is being undertaken by John Bew, the UK prime minister’s foreign affairs adviser and author of the "tilt" concept.
It means the UK, like France, is going back to the drawing board on its overtures to the region. Europe, as a whole, has compelling security and resources interests to establish, but it should make only credible promises.
Fortunately, there is a strong base of mutual priorities, not least the multilateral rules that underpin world trade and economic ties. There’s a foundation of forums such as the Quad group of countries, Aukus and G7 that keeps the big countries engaged in a constant process.
The most important thing is intelligent interaction, figuring out where progress is possible. What is also true is that levels of political interaction are intense. The Europeans truly have an opportunity with Indo-Pacific nations that exists at all levels.
Even if the crisis in Europe is only growing more intense, there are good reasons for doubling down on the eastern opportunities ahead.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
'Moonshot'
Director: Chris Winterbauer
Stars: Lana Condor and Cole Sprouse
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Fly Etihad or Emirates from the UAE to Moscow from 2,763 return per person return including taxes.
Where to stay
Trips on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian cost from US$16,995 (Dh62,414) per person, based on two sharing.
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if you go
The flights
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
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Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Qualifier A, Muscat
(All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv)
Fixtures
Friday, February 18: 10am Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm Semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm Final
UAE squad:Ahmed Raza(captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia
