[Vientiane] The US remains “intensely” focused on the Indo-Pacific region, with the “remarkably robust” trade, investment and financial ties between Asean and the world’s largest economy standing central to the relationship.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made these remarks on Friday (Oct 11) at a press briefing on the sidelines of the 44th and 45th Asean Summit and Related Meetings in the Lao capital of Vientiane.
Blinken is leading the American delegation in Laos, with President Joe Biden unable to attend as the US gears up for its upcoming presidential election.
“The US is Asean’s No 1 provider of foreign direct investment (FDI), and that’s very meaningful because what it tells you is there’s tremendous trust and tremendous confidence in the future,” noted Blinken. “People don’t make investments if they don’t have that confidence in the future.”
He added that FDIs are also a tremendous generator of jobs and opportunities, with more than 6,200 American companies operating in the region.
The US is committed not only to grow this partnership, but also to modernise it.
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Blinken pointed out that work is in place to implement the Asean single window – a regional one-stop initiative that enables the electronic exchange of trade-related documents among the bloc’s member states to enhance its trade efficiency and competitiveness.
He also mentioned innovations that ease the electronic exchange of customs forms and other documents, an initiative that alone has cut transaction times by four days and saved billions of dollars.
When asked by Singapore media about Washington’s future policy for Asean with the incoming change in presidency, Blinken replied: “There’s a profound understanding in the US (that) our future is in the Indo-Pacific. Given that, it’s my belief that that basic approach will continue, irrespective of who’s president, because it’s so manifestly in our interests.”
He reiterated the strong support in the US Congress for regional engagement, across political parties and across both houses, which he does not see changing.
“As long as we remain resolutely focused on the interests of our people, those interests call on us to do even more – not just with Asean and the countries that make up Asean – but throughout the Indo-Pacific,” concluded Blinken.
Asean-US Summit deliverables
The third and final day of Asean’s apex policy-making forum kicked off with a meeting between leaders of the regional alliance and the US.
At the 12th Asean-US Summit in the morning, a joint statement on artificial intelligence (AI) cooperation was issued. The US is the regional bloc’s first dialogue partner to do so.
Said Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in a speech at the meeting: “The US’ strong support for trusted cross-border data flows will help us conclude a high-quality Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement, which we are aiming to do by next year.”
In February this year, Asean launched a regional guide on AI governance and ethics, for organisations that intend to employ traditional AI technologies, at the fourth Asean Digital Ministers Meeting.
PM Wong added that Singapore is anticipating the second phase of a feasibility study between the US and the city-state on regional energy connectivity, which will facilitate the realisation of the Asean power grid.
Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Laos are currently involved in a power integration project that marks the first collaboration among four Asean countries on multilateral cross-border electricity trading.
Since 2022, Singapore has been importing up to 200 megawatts of renewable hydropower from Laos, via Thailand and Malaysia using existing interconnectors.
East Asia Summit
The second big meeting on Friday was the 19th East Asia Summit.
At its inception in 2005, the grouping comprised the 10 Asean member states, as well as Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. In 2011, the US and Russia joined the sixth iteration of the summit in Bali, Indonesia.
This year, Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who held sideline talks with Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son on Thursday.
In a speech, PM Wong emphasised that the summit remains “the only platform capable of bringing all the key players in our region to the same table” in the current challenging global environment.
“The aim of the East Asia Summit must therefore be to manage differences among the key powers, and to prevent a full-blown conflict in Asia. Such an outcome would be disastrous not just for the region, but for the whole world,” he added.
Asean leaders also met United Nations’ Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, followed by the Asia Zero Emission Community Leaders’ Meeting.
The summit closed with Laos handing over the Asean chairmanship to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Malaysia will begin its year-long role as chair on Jan 1 next year.
