US President announces measures to boost economic ties with South East Asia
US President Barack Obama on February 16 announced a package of measures designed to boost Southeast Asian economies, betting that the fast-growing region can be an ever more important trade partner.
A White House official said on the sidelines of the ASEAN-US Summit in California that the plan will establish three economic offices in Indonesia’s Jakarta, Thailand’s Bangkok and Singapore to better coordinate the US’s economic engagement.
The new "US-ASEAN Connect" package will include technical advice on how countries like Indonesia and the Philippines can prepare to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
Collectively, the ASEAN countries are the fourth-largest trading partner for the US.
The new "US-ASEAN Connect" package will include technical advice on how countries like Indonesia and the Philippines can prepare to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
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| Heads of delegations to the ASEAN-US Summit |
Other measures will focus on improving trade ties in the communications and infrastructure sectors, among others, and streamlining current government programmes. It will also address the power sector.
The ASEAN groups together Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.Collectively, the ASEAN countries are the fourth-largest trading partner for the US.
According to White House figures, two-way trade in goods and services has tripled since the 1990s, topping US$254 billion in 2014, supporting around half a million US jobs.
