Australia will elevate its engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, and seek to more closely align its foreign policy with that of the bloc. In an interview with the Australian Financial Review Foreign Minister Bob Carr said today Australia, which last weekend released a comprehensive blueprint for enhancing its ties with Asia, recognised ASEAN's centrality in the region. The sweeping policy blueprint, set a series of goals for the next 13 years to seize upon Asia's rapid ascent as a global economic powerhouse. The ambitious plan is aimed at maximising links with booming China and other soaring Asian economies to power Australia into the world's top 10 wealthiest nations by 2025. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and the United States would be Australia's key partners while Canberra also decided to post a full-time ambassador to the 10-nation ASEAN. Mr Carr said no regional grouping was more relevant to Australia's security or prosperity than ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.