Good afternoon, everyone.

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.

It also gives me great pleasure to acknowledge:

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, met regional leaders yesterday at the Annual ASEAN-Australia Summit and today at the East Asia Summit in Vientiane, Laos.

Both forums are critical for promoting peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and for building Australia’s trade links in the region and creating jobs and economic growth at home.

The Prime Minister met leaders from China, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Canada and New Zealand in the sidelines of the summits.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: It's been an extremely productive and effective two days here. Whether it was the bilateral meetings that I had with the leaders of China, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Canada, New Zealand or Timor-Leste or the participation in the East Asia Summit, or the participation in the Australia-ASEAN Summit as well. It was a time where we could advance Australia's interests. And we have an interest in this region. We're a part of this region. There's some half a million jobs are dependent upon trade right here with ASEAN nations.

Good morning.

It’s great to be here in Vientiane to mark just over 12 months since I launched Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.

To reflect on the progress we have made – and to renew our ambition for the future.

I’m pleased to welcome the Australian investment mission which is here in conjunction with the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

Thank you Prime Minister Sonexay for co-chairing this fourth annual ASEAN-Australia Summit.

I congratulate Laos for its leadership of ASEAN this year and for building an agenda focused on strengthening the region’s connectivity and resilience.

I also thank Laos for its guidance and support as our ASEAN Country Coordinator over the past three years.

And I thank Indonesia for being Australia’s new ASEAN Country Coordinator.

The special summit we held in Melbourne earlier this year celebrated 50 years of Australia’s dialogue partnership with ASEAN.

The Albanese Labor Government has agreed a timetable with China for the full resumption of Australian live rock lobster exports by the end of the year.

This will save the jobs of 3,000 Australians employed in the industry, 2,000 of which are in Western Australia.

The agreement to a timetable for the re-entry of live rock lobster was made during a meeting between Prime Minister Albanese and China’s Premier Li Qiang today on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's good to be here in Vientiane for the important regional summits with ASEAN. We're always better when we work together with our close friends and partners. And we know that ASEAN, of course, has an important relationship with Australia. We have our Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 that was developed by Nicholas Moore, and he, together with other business leaders such as Christine Holgate, will be participating this week as well. Stability, peace and future prosperity cannot be taken for granted.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA: Morning everyone, what a pleasure it is to sit down with, amongst friends here in Laos for the ASEAN meeting, Prime Minister of Australia and Prime Minister of New Zealand, an opportunity, obviously, to talk about, first of all, all the work that we've been doing together in the region and around the world, on growing our economies, on strengthening trade ties throughout the Indo-Pacific, but around the world as well. We're working on some excellent critical minerals initiatives.

LI QIANG, PREMIER OF CHINA: Prime Minister Albanese, it gives me great pleasure to meet you again. As I also say, I feel very warm to meet an old friend, and I want to thank Mr Prime Minister, and the Australian side for the warm hospitality and thoughtful arrangement during my visit to Australia in June. That visit was a great success, and also attracted a lot of attention in both China and Australia.

representing Australia at the ASEAN Summit, and for the Australia-ASEAN Summit as well. This is an important relationship that Australia has with Southeast Asia. It's our second largest trading partner. There are 500,000 jobs in Australia depend upon our trade in Southeast Asia, and the work that Nicholas Moore has done in developing the 2040 Southeast Asia Economic Strategy is so important for Australia. So the next two days is an important opportunity for us to engage with our neighbours in what is, of course, the fastest growing region of the world in human history.