In 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron laid the foundations for France's strategy for the Indo-Pacific, a region that is becoming the new centre of gravity of the global economy but is also experiencing growing tensions and increased competition between major powers. As a resident nation in both the Indian and Pacific Oceans through its overseas territories and communities, France has a direct stake in the region's stability and development. In this context, France wants to act as a stabilising force and to promote effective multilateralism based on the rule of law, inclusivity and respect for sovereignty.
The French strategy aims to address all regional challenges through a cooperative and multidimensional approach. Beyond defence and security, it also focuses on fighting climate change, protecting biodiversity, and fostering sustainable ocean management, connectivity and health. France's priority is to forge "sovereignty partnerships" with Indo-Pacific countries. These partnerships are designed around shared objectives of reducing dependencies and enhancing resilience through cooperation programs addressing common challenges. They help to preserve freedom of action and increase partners' room for manoeuvre in an environment increasingly subject to strategic competition.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) occupies a central place in France's strategy, as it lies at the heart of regional multilateralism and plays a crucial role in shaping an effective security architecture. The vision set out in the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and the mechanisms and method developed by Asean institutions closely align with the French approach, thus providing a strong foundation for fortifying our partnerships.
In this regard, an important step was taken in 2020 with the establishment of the France-Asean Development Partnership and the subsequent adoption of an action plan. This new cooperation framework acts as a catalyst for strengthening French engagement with the three Asean communities and for accelerating the implementation of projects on shared priorities, drawing on France's acknowledged expertise. These include cooperation in areas such as regional security, climate and environment, blue economy and connectivity. In this respect, I am happy to acknowledge that we already have a sizeable agenda of joint actions with upcoming deliverables on air quality, clean maritime transport, building energy efficiency, multi-sectoral capacity building fund and very soon hopefully on the Asean Power Grid (APG). France and Asean are also strengthening their collaboration on pandemic preparedness and response, building on France's longstanding collaboration with Asean governments, research institutes and CSOs on the "One Health" approach and on the fight against communicable diseases. France launched in December 2024 a new phase of a programme to prevent and mitigate zoonotic diseases with Thailand and Laos, under the PREZODE initiative. Overall, the French Agency for Development plans to commit 20 million euros (742.7 million baht) in the region to support interventions and research which reduce the risks of a new pandemic.
France's accession as an observer to the Asean Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM+) working groups for 2024–2027 further demonstrates its commitment to contributing tangibly to the regional security architecture. France will participate in the groups on maritime security and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR). This commitment is also reflected in the regular deployment of the French Navy and the French Air and Space Force, with the aim of ensuring respect for freedom of navigation and overflight, securing access to global commons and preserving strategic stability. These deployments enable France to take part in bilateral and multilateral exercises to enhance interoperability with partner forces and conduct joint surveillance operations, as was the case recently during the deployment of the aircraft carrier group as part of the CLEMENCEAU 2025 mission.
France continues to play a leading role in advancing the European agenda in the Indo-Pacific. Launched in Paris during the French EU Presidency in 2022, the EU Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific has grown into a unique and effective format that annually brings together EU Member States, partners in the Indo-Pacific, and regional organisations annually to advance cooperation around three pillars: security and defence, climate and global challenges, and economy and connectivity.
The official launch in Bangkok, on May 27, of the Global Ports Safety (GPS) project, co-funded by the EU and France in partnership with Poland, marks a new milestone in French and European commitment to the region. This project, carried out by Expertise France, is consistent with the EU's Global Gateway strategy, which aims to enhance maritime connectivity between Asia and Europe in a safer, greener and more resilient manner.
Marc Abensour is French Ambassador for the Indo-Pacific.