U.S. Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose Fernandez recently travelled to three U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region to deepen economic cooperation and to enhance the region’s economic resilience.
He met with government, business, and academic leaders in Vietnam, the Philippines, and the Republic of Korea. At a press briefing, Under Secretary Fernandez highlighted several key outcomes:
“In Vietnam, I focused on increasing trade opportunities, the clean energy transition, semiconductor and supply chain cooperation, and also advancing our economic partnership following President Biden’s visit in September last year.”
Under Secretary Fernandez noted that U.S. trade with Vietnam has reached record levels: $140 billion a year. He said the United States is pleased that Vietnam requested a review of its designation as non-market economy last year. In October, the Commerce Department responded by initiating a review of Vietnam’s market reforms.
“In the Philippines,” said Under Secretary Fernandez, “we assured our partners of our unwavering support for the Philippines’ economic resilience and supply chain diversifications, and we also focused on expanding our already strong trade relations and investment opportunities in many areas.”
“We had long discussions on critical minerals with the Philippines,” he said. “The Philippines, after Indonesia, has the largest reserves of nickel in the world, and that’s an opportunity, and it also matches what we have been trying to do as part of the diversifying of our supply chains.”
During his visit to the Republic of Korea, Under Secretary Fernandez led the Senior Economic Dialogue, which, he said “demonstrated our strong bilateral trade and investment relationship.”
“We talked about our critical minerals, semiconductor supply chains, energy security, development, and infrastructure cooperation. I am very pleased to see here in Korea, how much the [U.S] Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act have really grabbed the attention of companies here in Korea, and also to see how our companies – American companies – are investing here and doing business here.”
“The private sector is critical for creating sustainability and prosperity,” Under Secretary Fernandez emphasized. “That is something that we should not underestimate: the importance of the fact ... that our companies in many of these countries have established partnerships and relations that help them, but also that establish our interest and our desire to be partners and neighbors.”
