Germany aims to expand cooperation with ASEAN via EU - Scholz

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Europe's biggest economy would seek to expand its cooperation with Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) via the European Union, addressing a meeting of business leaders in Singapore on Monday.

He said that reducing risky, one-sided dependencies for certain raw materials or critical technologies would play an important role in Germany's national security strategy but added that de-coupling was not the answer.

"A world with new or resurrected trade barriers and de-integrated economies will not be a better place," he said according to a prepared speech text.