Tokyo, Japan – Today, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to advance quality energy infrastructure in third-country emerging markets in the Indo-Pacific region. The agreement will support the commitment made in February 2017 by President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to deepen the strong economic ties between the two countries. The agreement also advances the Japan-United States Strategic Energy Partnership announced during the recently concluded State Visit to Japan by President Trump.
Under the agreement, USTDA’s Global Procurement Initiative: Understanding Best Value (GPI) and Japan’s Partnership for Quality Infrastructure (PQI) will align efforts to support and promote international best practices in public procurement for infrastructure in third countries in emerging markets. Together, the two programs will assist countries in the region in obtaining transparent and efficient public procurement systems and establishing procurement policies and procedures consistent with international best practices. The cooperation will also demonstrate the high-quality value proposition that U.S. and Japanese companies excel at providing in infrastructure development.
“This agreement demonstrates our countries’ shared goals to develop sustainable and high-quality infrastructure,” said Acting Director Thomas R. Hardy, signing on behalf of USTDA. “We embrace this unique opportunity to partner with Japan and work together on our shared goals.”
METI’s Commissioner for Natural Resources and Energy, Satoshi Kusakabe, added, “Energy is a symbolic area of cooperation between Japan and the United States. I hope our collaboration will contribute to the development of a stable supply of energy in emerging economies, the deployment of clean energy in the world, and economic growth for both Japan and the U.S.”
In the region, USTDA currently has ongoing GPI partnerships with the Governments of Vietnam and the Philippines and the State of Maharashtra in India. To see an overview of the GPI in Asia and elsewhere, please visit www.ustda.gov or click here.
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