FACT SHEET: Advancing the Indo-Pacific Strategy
January 11, 2023
Press Release
Director Ebong at Opening Ceremony

During the 2023 Indo-Pacific Business Forum, USTDA announced new funding commitments, calls for initial proposals, and events that will deepen business ties between the United States and the Indo-Pacific region. These activities span clean energy, transportation, digital and healthcare infrastructure throughout the region.

CALLS FOR INITIAL PROPOSALS

  • Through the Pacific Island Strategic Infrastructure Initiative announced by President Biden in September 2022, USTDA is issuing a call for initial proposals that will advance the infrastructure priorities of Pacific Island countries.

NEW COMMITMENTS

Clean Energy

  • India: USTDA approved funding for a feasibility study to facilitate the National Institute of Ocean Technology’s development of two utility-scale ocean thermal energy conversion power plants. This project will help India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands transition away from reliance on fossil fuels.
  • Malaysia: USTDA-funded technical assistance to Malaysian electric utility company Sarawak Energy Berhad will advance its digital transformation to improve electricity resiliency and affordability while integrating more renewable energy sources.
  • Thailand: USTDA announced funding for a feasibility study to help the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand retrofit Vajiralongkorn Dam so it can store generated power and release it when there is demand. The project will advance Thailand’s energy transition to clean power by building grid capacity to accommodate significant amounts of projected renewable energy generation.

Digital Infrastructure

  • India: USTDA approved funding for a feasibility study to advance Indian internet service provider AirJaldi’s broadband network expansion plans. USTDA’s support will guide network scaling to deliver internet and digital services to an estimated 33 million people in rural areas across 16 Indian states.
  • Philippines: USTDA approved funding for technical assistance and a pilot project to support Philippines NOW Telecom Company, Inc.’s deployment of a 5G network to help meet growing household and industry demand for reliable and secure digital services in the Philippines.

Transportation

  • Philippines: USTDA approved funding for a feasibility study to support the Philippines’ Department of Transportation’s upgrade and expansion of a vessel traffic management system. The improvements will increase the Philippines’ ability to manage traffic between the country’s more than 7,000 islands and enhance search and rescue operations and environmental monitoring.
  • Thailand: A USTDA-funded technical assistance grant is supporting the Thailand Ministry of Transport’s efforts to shift the country’s freight transportation from road to rail. This modal shift will increase energy efficiency, reduce transportation costs and improve the resilience of supply chains in Thailand and the Southeast Asia market.
  • Timor-Leste: A USTDA feasibility study grant to Timor-Leste’s Special Administrative Region of Oé-Cusse-Ambeno will support the development of a new national airline to catalyze economic activity by lowering costs, promoting tourism and business and decreasing reliance on foreign carriers.

Healthcare Infrastructure

  • Indonesia: USTDA and GE Healthcare are co-funding a pilot project to support the Indonesian Ministry of Health as it develops a new cloud-based platform to improve medical care in Indonesia. The project will include a data repository for medical records and a hub-and-spoke network to connect general practitioners with cardiologists.

Cross-Sector

  • India: USTDA has funded a third phase of technical assistance for its U.S.-India Standards and Conformance Cooperation Program. The program funds six workshops, as well as training events, to help improve India’s trading capacity by familiarizing Indian standards-setting bodies with U.S. and international best practices in standards-setting and conformity assessment.
  • Regional: USTDA will deploy Infrastructure Accelerator Teams to Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to identify new assistance activities that can help unlock public and private sector financing for infrastructure priorities that will advance the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • India: USTDA will convene the seventh U.S.-India Aviation Summit in 2023 to bring together government and private sector stakeholders from the U.S. and Indian aviation sectors to help drive the future of aviation sector development. The Summit is supported by the U.S.-India Aviation Cooperation Program.
  • India: USTDA will fund a reverse trade mission (RTM) to the United States to introduce public and private energy sector representatives to state-of-the-art U.S. technologies, services and best practices for emissions reduction. USTDA will also sponsor a follow-on workshop to discuss next steps for the deployment of these innovations for local emissions reduction projects. The RTM and workshop are a collaboration under the U.S.-India Climate Technologies Action Group.
  • Pacific Islands: A USTDA-funded RTM will bring port sector officials from Pacific Island countries, including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Solomon Islands to the United States to learn about U.S. innovations and best practices for port security and operations. The program will connect delegates with U.S. firms and public sector experts and include site visits in multiple U.S. cities.
  • Southeast Asia: USTDA will organize a series of six healthcare workshops to help address challenges these countries face in healthcare delivery, while serving as a forum for best practices, standards, and policy development for the region’s healthcare industry.
  • Thailand: A USTDA-funded RTM will bring Thai officials to the United States to showcase U.S. next-generation network technologies and 5G applications, share regulatory best practices to promote innovation, and build awareness of enhanced security implications. The event will connect U.S. industry with opportunities in one of ASEAN’s largest ICT markets.

These and other USTDA activities in the Indo-Pacific region support U.S. initiatives like the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and the Pacific Islands Strategic Infrastructure Initiative.

For more information on USTDA’s Indo-Pacific portfolio, please visit our website.