United States officials and leaders from the Indo-Pacific region to discuss how to progress with an President Joe Biden's initiative to strengthen economic and trade relations in the region, the Department of Commerce (DOC) announced recently.
DOC Sec. Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai hosted a virtual meeting May 23 with ministers from the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) to build on its kickoff earlier that day, the DOC announced at the time. Twelve Indo-Pacific countries have partnered with the U.S. in the initiative.
"IPEF is a 21st-century economic agreement that will seek to tackle the 21st-century economic challenges shared by the United States and its allies and partners in the region," the DOC states in the announcement, "ranging from setting the rules for the digital economy to ensuring secure and resilient supply chains to managing the energy transition to investing in quality, modern infrastructure."
Sec. Raimondo called the IPEF launch and follow-up meeting as "an exciting day," the DOC reports.
“In our first meeting," Sec. Raimondo said, "Ambassador Tai and I engaged in positive and productive discussions with our counterparts on concrete steps that the United States and its IPEF partners will undertake quickly going forward to craft a framework that benefits our workers and businesses and allows them to better compete in the region.”
Trade rep. Tai said the IPEF supports President Biden's goal to reinforce the U.S.'s involvement in the Indo-Pacific region and develop ties between "major and emerging economies" to better address future issues, according to the DOC>
“Today’s meeting begins the next phase of our robust engagement with leaders in this region," Tai said, "and we will continue our discussions to create a fairer, more resilient economy for families, workers, and businesses in the United States and here in the Indo-Pacific."
