WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2022) US President Joe Biden announced a range of initiatives worth $150 million to deepen relations between Washington and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during a summit in the US capital with a large portion dedicated to maritime security and law enforcement in the Indo-Pacific, the White House said in a fact sheet.
Biden is hosting his counterparts from the ASEAN countries this week for a special summit. The leaders are expected to discuss the security concerns and economic opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region, including other urgent matters related to Myanmar and Ukraine.
"Today, the United States and ASEAN will inaugurate a new era of partnership, guided by the complementary objectives of the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. In that spirit, President Biden is announcing over $150 million in initiatives that will deepen US-ASEAN relations, strengthen ASEAN centrality, and expand our common capacity to achieve our shared objectives," the White House said on Thursday.
About 40% of the investment will go to security cooperation, supporting ASEAN partners conduct law enforcement activities in the Indo-Pacific, and to boost their capacity in the region, the White House said.
"The United States is committed to supporting implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific's Maritime Pillar," the release said. "Today we are announcing $60 million in new regional maritime initiatives, most of which will be led by the US Coast Guard (USCG)."
The US Department of State, the US Department of Labor, and the US Coast Guard will also launch new efforts to help ASEAN countries counter illegal and unregulated fishing in the Indo-Pacific, and to prevent forced labor in the fishing industry, the release said.
In addition, the United States will expand US Coast Guard training to ASEAN partners' law enforcement agencies, which will include enhancing their readiness, institutional development, sustainment of equipment, and workforce professionalization, the release said.
Moreover, the US Coast Guard will deploy a cutter to Southeast Asia and Oceania to participate in security operations and to conduct training.
The United States is also going to invest $40 million to mobilize $2 billion of blended financing for clean energy infrastructure in Southeast Asia through the Smart Power Program. The investment aims at decarbonization and strengthening of the region's power system as well as the deployment of clean energy technologies, according to the release.
One of the initiatives is launching of a US-ASEAN Climate Solutions Hub to provide technical assistance to ASEAN member-states in order to accelerate low-emission development and resilience strategies, the release said.
The list of joint initiatives also includes space cooperation, reduction of methane emissions, the US-ASEAN transportation dialogue partnership, and investment in climate-smart infrastructure, the release said.
The ASEAN member states include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The White House said it did not invite the Myanmar junta and the outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte decided to skip the summit.
