US plans economic initiatives in Asia

HONG KONG (Reuters) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was set to announce a series of investment initiatives in Asia, focusing on digital economy, energy and infrastructure.

The announcement, to be made at a US Chamber of Commerce forum in Washington, comes at a time when trade frictions with China have given US trade diplomacy a sharper edge.

“The Indo-Pacific is an absolute priority of US policymakers in the executive branch and in Congress,” Brian Hook, Mr Pompeo’s senior policy advisor, told journalists in a conference call.

Countries in the region have been worried by Mr Trump’s “America first” policy, withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, and pursuit of a trade conflict with China that threatens to disrupt regional supply chains.

The United States’ first outlined its strategy to develop the Indo-Pacific economy at an Asia-Pacific summit last year.

“Indo-Pacific” has become known in diplomatic circles as shorthand for a broader and democratic-led region in place of “Asia-Pacific”, which from some perspectives had authoritarian China too firmly at its centre.

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