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National interest amid global uncertainty
As Indonesia has taken the lead in formulating and driving the outlook, our role and standing in the Indo-Pacific and beyond have been much enhanced. This leadership role is allowing Indonesia to be more assertive in general in defending our national interests in the global economy.
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Warm welcome: ASEAN secretary general Le Luong Minh (right) greets US Vice President Mike Pence upon his arrival at the ASEAN Secretariat office in South Jakarta on April 20. (JP/Tama Salim)
R
ecently I was invited to the launch at Capitol Hill of the fourth edition of “ASEAN Matters for America/America Matters for ASEAN”, published jointly by the United States-ASEAN Business Council, the East-West Center and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies — Yusof Ishak Institute.
The publication compiles facts and figures on ASEAN-US ties in the economy, investment, employment, business, diplomacy, security, education and tourism, as well as people-to-people interactions.
It is intended to provide an update on how the two sides contribute to mutual progress and growth and lays out very impressive data to illustrate this.
Among these is that the ASEAN economy is the fifth largest in the world with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$2.8 trillion and has projected annual growth of more than 5.5 percent.
With a total value of over $105 billion, ASEAN is the fourth largest US export market after Canada, Mexico and China; the US is the fourth largest trading partner for ASEAN. These trade relations support 500,000 jobs across all 50 US states.
US foreign direct investment in ASEAN has expanded steadily to almost $330 billion to date, exceeding the combined total value of US investment in China, India, Japan and Korea. ASEAN is the world’s fastest growing internet market with 914 million active mobile connections.
In terms of tourism, last year saw 1.2 million ASEAN visitors to the US and 4 million US visitors to ASEAN countries.
