At the US-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on 3 August 2018 that Washington would contribute US$113 million as a “down payment” to support new programmes in the areas of digital economy, energy, and infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region.

Echoing his statement first made at the Indo-Pacific Business Forum in Washington DC on 30 July, he said $50 million and $10 million would be allocated to projects under Asia EDGE (Enhancing Development and Growth through Energy) and the US-ASEAN Connect Initiative respectively. Asia EDGE is aimed at increasing the Indo-Pacific states’ access to energy and achieve energy security. US-ASEAN Connect aims to strengthen Washington’s economic engagement with ASEAN in four pillars: business, energy, innovation, and policy in addition to America’s security commitment to the region.

… Kaewkamol Pitakdumrongkit is Assistant Professor and Deputy Head at the Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.