US State Department announces $113 million in new Indo-Pacific initiatives

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday announced $113 million in investment initiatives in Asia focusing on digital economy, energy and infrastructure, calling it "just a down payment on a new era in US economic commitment to peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region".

In remarks to the US Chamber of Commerce Forum in Washington, Pompeo sought to define the economic aspect of President Donald Trump's "Indo-Pacific" strategy, which aims to cast the US as a trustworthy partner in the region.

Pompeo said Washington wants a "free and open" Asia not dominated by any one country.

Early in his presidency, Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, a key free trade deal in the region.

Among the new investments outlined by Pompeo, the US will invest $25 million to expand technology exports to the region, add nearly $50 million this year to help countries produce and store energy resources, and create a new assistance network to boost infrastructure development.

The announcement came as fears are growing of an all-out trade war between the US and China. A more confrontational approach to China has been central to the Trump administration's policy in Asia.

US officials said the American strategy does not aim to compete directly with China's Belt and Road Initiative, which involves dozens of countries in an estimated $1 trillion of mostly state-led infrastructure projects linking Asia, parts of Africa and Europe, but rather to offer a more sustainable alternative by encouraging private-sector investment.

Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University trade professor and former head of the IMF's China division, said the US initiatives are tiny in comparison to China's.

"In both scale and scope, these initiatives pale in ambition relative to comparable initiatives by China," Prasad said. "It also highlights the distinction between China's approach of bold and grand government-led initiatives and the much more modest role of the US government."

Pompeo said the US has signed a $350 million investment compact with Mongolia to develop new water sources. He said the US government's Millennium Challenge Corp was also finalizing an agreement to invest in transportation and other reforms in Sri Lanka.

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Washington also eased export controls for high-tech product sales to India.

Pompeo said he will visit Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia this week to announce new security assistance.

REUTERS — AP