October 30: Building the Indo-Pacific: ASEAN Stakeholder Forum

Tuesday, October 30

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Venue: The Stimson Center

1211 Connecticut Ave, NW, 8th Floor

Washington, DC 20036

LIVESTREAM via Stimson Center

The US-Philippines Society and the Stimson Center invite you to a public, on-record forum to discuss strategic and pragmatic impact areas for new USG trade and infrastructure initiatives. Deputy Assistant Secretary Walter Douglas of the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs will keynote, followed by a panel discussion featuring Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez, DAS Roland De Marcellus of the State Department Economic and Business Bureau, DCM of the Royal Thai Embassy Boosara Kanchanalai and Paul Shmotolokha of Alpha Technologies.

A new era of US engagement in infrastructure and development opportunities in the Indo-Pacific commenced on October 3, 2018 when Congress passed the BUILD Act, a bipartisan initiative, which establishes the International Development Finance Corporation. The IDFC will completely overhaul the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and mobilize $60 billion to facilitate the participation of private sector capital and skills in the economic development of countries with low- or lower-middle-income economies in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Passage of the BUILD Act comes months after U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo launched the development arm of the U.S.’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy with the Indo-Pacific Transaction Advisory Network (ITAN) and AsiaEDGE. These initiatives combined with financing from the BUILD Act will offer a clear choice for high-quality infrastructure that will help fill the $3.4 trillion infrastructure gap in ASEAN countries.

Please click here to register or RSVP.

PROGRAM

Discussion Panel: