Oct. 8 (UPI) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will seek to strengthen U.S. ties in East Asia during a pair of summits with leaders from the Indo-Pacific and Southeast Asian regions this week.
Blinken is visiting Vientiane in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Tuesday through Friday to participate in the East Asia Summit and the U.S.-Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
“We sincerely appreciate the Lao PDR for its excellent work this year in hosting the many ASEAN meetings,” Daniel Kritenbrink, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said during a teleconference Tuesday afternoon.
“We remain committed to advancing the U.S.-LAO PDR Comprehensive Partnership and to developing our economic and people-to-people ties to support greater prosperity for the people of Laos,” Kritenbrink said.
Blinken’s mission is to emphasize the benefits of the U.S.-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the 1 billion people represented by the participating nations.
Economic growth, climate change, health security, maritime security and the digital economy are among the many topics Blinken and the representatives of ASEAN nation’s will discuss during the events in Laos, Kritenbrink said.
Blinken also will discuss geopolitical issues, including a continuing crisis in Burma, enforcing international law in the South China Sea and Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“ASEAN is at the heart of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy,” Kritenbrink said. “We are committed to ASEAN’s centrality and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.”
The United States is the largest source of direct foreign investment in ASEAN nation’s and their respective economies, Kritenbrink said.
He said U.S. businesses invested $500 billion in trade in ASEAN nations in 2023, which generated hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout the United States and a million jobs throughout Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asian nations also send 50,000 students to study in U.S. universities every year.