Asia and the Pacific

Asia is a heterogeneous continent, with a great diversity of cultural traditions, socio-political patterns and levels of economic development.  The incorporation of millions of people into the productive activity, consumption and networks of the global economy have been key to the rise of emerging countries to a pre-eminent place in the world economy and politics.

Today, the region accounts for more than half of the world's population and produces a third of our planet's wealth. By 2050, this continent is forecast account for half of global production. Moreover, Asia is a leading centre for science, technology and innovation, with a global weight that will grow quantitatively in the coming years.

Spain's bilateral relations with Asian countries

Due to the region's sheer size and dynamism, Asia is a continent in which any country that wants to play a leading role in contemporary global dynamics needs to be present. Spain's commitment to Asia in the political, economic, scientific and social spheres makes it necessary to strengthen our presence in the region and to equip ourselves with instruments of analysis and action adapted to the new realities in Asia.

To this end, in 2022 an ambassador to the Special Mission for the Indo-Pacific was appointed to study how to defend Spain's interests within the priorities of the European Strategy and to work for Spain and the EU to play a leading role in the region.

• East Asia Spain has made relations with East Asia one of its foreign policy priorities. This has translated into rapprochement with countries such as China, Japan and South Korea. Political contacts are commonplace, economic relations have multiplied and links between civil societies are growing.
• Central and South Asia: Spain has also included the countries that make up the Central Asia and South Asia regions in the parameters of its foreign policy, with an increasingly active rapprochement, considering the relevance of major regional powers such as India. With regard to Southeast Asian countries and ASEAN Member States, bilateral relations have grown close both quantitatively and qualitatively and the political agenda has intensified. This is certainly true in the case of the Philippines with which we have so many historical and cultural ties.
• South Pacific: With regard to Spain's relations with the South Pacific, it should be noted that our country maintains diplomatic relations with all the States, and Australia and New Zealand in particular for their geopolitical weight in the region. Spain is currently pursuing an active policy as a Post-Forum Dialogue Partner of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
  

EU Indo-Pacific strategy

Spain recognises the centrality of the Indo-Pacific and has opted to be an active player in the implementation of the EU Cooperation Strategy for the Indo-Pacific officially launched in September 2021 and whose central axes are the interdependence between the two regions and their economies, the joint fight against climate change, as well as the defence of democracy and human rights in the region.

In November 2023, the European Union signed with the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OASECP) the new Samoa Agreement, which is articulated as the main instrument to guide the EU's political, economic and cooperation relations with 79 countries of the so-called 'Global South', including 47 African, 16 Caribbean and 15 Pacific countries, as well as the Republic of the Maldives.

This agreement includes key objectives for the EU-ACP relationship and its international outreach, such as contributing to the achievement of the SDGs and the Paris Agreement, promoting and protecting human rights, building peaceful and resilient states and societies, fostering human and social development, supporting trade development and investment mobilisation, and safe, orderly and regular migration and mobility.

Minister Albares with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, on 13 January 2025 at the Palacio de Viana.​

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