The Australian prime minister announced $50 million for a new pandemic fund from an event in Cambodia, where he is attending the 2nd annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Australian summit.
The Financial Intermediary Fund pandemic fund, hosted by the World Bank, is the culmination of international efforts to learn the lessons of COVID-19 and will focus on future pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
Australia will be one of the fund’s founding donors, with current contributions totalling more than US$1.4 billion.
Anthony Albanese welcomed the establishment of the fund, which will be led by the Indonesia G20 presidency, and how it would shape future pandemic plans.
“There is a clear consensus that the world needs to be better prepared to respond to future events — shared global finance is a big part of that,” the PM said.
Australia has already contributed $838 million toward regional and global COVID-19 vaccine access.
Collaboration was the theme of the summit in Phnom Penh over the weekend, under the banner ‘addressing challenges together’.
Albanese’s opening remarks at the event underscored the friendship and partnership of neighbours who were not only connected by geography but by shared interests. He said Australia wanted to renew the vision of what ASEAN could achieve for the shared region.
“Australia is proud to be ASEAN’s oldest dialogue partner. For close to five decades, our partnership has stood for mutual respect and cooperation among sovereign nations and has promoted, in the words of the ASEAN Declaration, ‘the cherished ideals of peace, freedom, social justice and economic well-being’,” the PM said.
“The urgent task we face today is to uphold these cherished ideals as we confront a complex and changing world.”
Albanese added it was a priority to advance economic growth under the Australia for ASEAN Futures program. This included work on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) initiative, developing cities that were both smart and sustainable, harnessing digital economy potential and developing science, technology and innovation projects.
“We are also committed to doing more with you to seize the opportunities of the net-zero transition, so necessary to avoid dangerous climate change,” Albanese said.
“All of these initiatives are essential to our security and prosperity. And they present a vivid example that nations can better advance their interests by working together.
The PM cited his first international meeting in power with Joko Widodo in June, where the pair famously pedalled side by side on bamboo bicycles, as testament to the serious value he held Australia and ASEAN relations.
Australia’s commitment of $470 million in extra development assistance to the Indo-Pacific region, as well as the appointment of Nicholas Moore as Australia’s special envoy to Southeast Asia to deliver a comprehensive Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, showed the esteem the region was held in Albanese said.
A pleasure to meet with @POTUS Joe Biden in Cambodia. We spoke about our shared values and our commitment to a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific. pic.twitter.com/Kd2H8cx3s3
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 13, 2022
“Australia remains committed to a rules-based regional order with ASEAN at the centre and to the “spirit of equality and partnership” expressed in the ASEAN Declaration,” Albanese said.
“Working in close cooperation, we can forge a more secure and sustainable future, where international law and norms are upheld, and disputes are resolved amicably through diplomacy and dialogue.”
The PM also foreshadowed ASEAN’s in-principle agreement to adopt Timor-Leste as the 11th member of the bloc.
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