Welcome
Southeast Asia – at the heart of the Indo-Pacific
Megacities, dynamic economies, young populations: the countries of Southeast Asia with their more than 655 million inhabitants are developing at a fast pace while at the same time facing huge challenges.
Dynamic development: urbanisation and economic growth
Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most dynamic regions. With rapid economic growth at rates of over five percent, it is rich in critical raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium, offers attractive locations both for mass production and high-tech manufacturing, has a young, ambitious population, which will continue to grow until 2050, and is a popular destination for German tourists. Geopolitically, Southeast Asia is at the heart of the global competition between the political great powers. The stance Germany adopts here can influence how the international order will be shaped in the 21st century.
Regional cooperation
In recent years, the foreign and security policy clout of the states that have joined together in the regional organisation ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has increased. The Association, which was founded in 1967, now has eleven Southeast Asian member states and provides an institutional framework that creates stability, prosperity and political orientation. The member states are committed to peaceful conflict resolution and a cooperative multilateral system based on international law. As early as 2020, the German Government set itself the aim of helping to strengthen ASEAN’s ability to act.
Germany has been an ASEAN Development Partner since 2016. In 2020, Germany also completed its accession to the 1967 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, thus laying the foundation for deeper cooperation on security policy. Germany’s partnership with ASEAN includes close cooperation on topics such as environmental protection, climate change mitigation, economic integration and professional training. Germany also supports the ASEAN Secretariat institutionally and strengthens the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre).
Germany’s involvement in the region
Germany has Embassies in all Southeast Asian countries with the exception of Timor-Leste, as well as Consulates General in some countries. There are also German Chambers of Commerce in a number of countries. The German Government focuses its cooperation on security and maritime cooperation to promote multilateralism and international law, as well as on trade, investment, skilled worker recruitment, critical raw materials, renewable energies, climate change and environmental protection.
Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world and the most populous country in Southeast Asia with the strongest economy. It is also the third largest democracy in the world and the country with the largest Muslim population anywhere on the globe. It is a member of the G20 and BRICS. Indonesia has close relations with Germany; since 2012 the two countries have enjoyed a strategic partnership. 2022 marked the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between our two countries. Within the framework of a global development partnership, the principal issues for our bilateral cooperation are the energy transition, climate change, green infrastructure and sustainable economic development, as well as professional training and urbanisation.
Germany has maintained close relations with the city-state of Singapore for 60 years. In 2024, our two countries agreed to enhance their relations by establishing a Strategic Partnership with a large number of new topics, particularly in the areas of security, business, technology and education. Singapore is one of Germany’s principal trading partners in Southeast Asia, a key financial centre and an outstanding partner in science and research.
In 2025, Germany and Viet Nam celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations. The “Vietnamese economic miracle” began in 1986 when the country’s economy was opened. In the meantime, the country has become one of Germany’s most important trading partners in Southeast Asia. Many skilled workers come to Germany from Viet Nam. In 2011, the two countries agreed a Strategic Partnership to strengthen political, economic and cultural relations. This partnership now includes the German-Vietnamese Rule of Law Dialogue. The over 200,000 Vietnamese nationals or Germans of Vietnamese descent living in Germany and the some 165,000 Vietnamese people who have returned to Viet Nam after working or studying in Germany form a vital bridge between the two countries.
Cooperation with Malaysia, one of the most important trading partners among the ASEAN countries, is especially intensive in the economic and technological spheres as well as in academic exchange. Many German companies value Malaysia as a regional production and sales hub and actively support the expansion of professional training in the country. The power semi-conductor factory opened in Kulim in eastern Malaysia by Infineon in 2024 is the largest of its kind worldwide.
Relations with the Philippines are becoming closer, particularly in the sphere of maritime security cooperation. Germany and the Philippines concluded a security agreement in 2025. In addition to the fields of climate change and skilled immigration, the country plays an increasingly important role in Germany’s endeavours to achieve greater economic diversification.
Germany and Thailand have maintained diplomatic relations and enjoyed friendly ties since 1862. Germany is Thailand’s prime trading partner within the European Union; Thailand is Germany’s third largest trading partner in ASEAN. Germany is Thailand’s most important bilateral climate partner through the International Climate Initiative. The number of German tourists in Thailand has increased further.
Cambodia is one of the priority countries of Germany’s development cooperation in Southeast Asia. Since the parliamentary elections in 2018, attention has focused time and again on the situation of the opposition and of human rights groups, particularly in view of domestic developments involving the parliamentary election in 2023, in which the governing Cambodian People’s Party ran for election with virtually no competition from the opposition.
In Laos, too, cooperation focuses on specific areas, in particular rural development, economic integration in ASEAN, climate change mitigation and environmental protection.
The Sultanate of Brunei is the smallest country in Southeast Asia after the city-state of Singapore. Because of its wealth of natural resources, economic relations and cooperation within the framework of the regional organisation ASEAN are at the heart of our relationship.
Timor-Leste is a young and, despite the economic challenges it faces, stable democracy. In 2024, Timor-Leste became a WTO member and in 2025 it became the eleventh member of ASEAN.
Myanmar had been undergoing a remarkable democratic transition since 2011, but the military coup of 2021 plunged the country into a profound political and humanitarian crisis. Along with international partners, the German Government has imposed sanctions on the military regime and calls for an end to the repression by the military and for a political settlement.