Indo-Pacific

In support of the U.S.-Southeast Asia Aviation Cooperation Program, USTDA is now welcoming initial proposals for grant-based feasibility studies, technical assistance, pilot projects and training that will help structure viable aviation infrastructure projects across Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

To learn more about USTDA’s call for initial proposals, please register for our upcoming webinar at 8:00 PM (EST) on December 9, 2020.

Initial proposal requirements can be found here.

USTDA approved funding for two reverse trade missions as part of the ASEAN Cybersecurity Series. The first visit will focus on fintech, banks and financial institutions, and the second will focus on utility companies and the power sector. The series will familiarize leaders from financial institutions and utility companies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with state-of-the-art U.S. information and communications technologies, services, and best practices for data analytics and cybersecurity.

This reverse trade mission series will further the likelihood that the Government of India will utilize U.S. solutions and services to improve e-governance, the utilization of financial technology, and internet connectivity throughout India, which are pillars of its “Digital India” program. The series will include two reverse trade missions starting in late 2019 that will bring “Digital India” policy makers to the U.S. to view innovative U.S. services and technologies to support the program’s goals.

The ASEAN region is headed for massive 5G-led industry investment. USTDA will host a two-day workshop for ASEAN countries focused on standards development for applications across vertical industries including 5G and next-generation wireless networks.  The workshop will feature U.S. products and services, including wireless communication components, satellite technologies, virtual radio access networks, 5G/edge computing chipsets, network equipment, cloud infrastructure (servers, hardware), and licensed software (cloud computing, big data management).  Workshop dates: 2020 TBD. Target sectors may include intelligent transportation systems, industrial internet-of-things (IoT), health care, agriculture, energy utility industries, or other sectors where standards development is taking place for vertical applications on 5G networks. The workshop will increase understanding of the industry-driven standards development activities for the use cases and applications and will promote best practices for enabling innovation through openness to industry-driven standards. These include examples of limited  regulatory approach for 5G wireless applications in vertical industries; and recommended policies for enhancing growth of the 5G ecosystem and vertical applications in ASEAN markets. 

USTDA is sponsoring a two-day workshop to inform implementation of Thailand’s new Personal Data Protection Act; Cybersecurity Act; and subsequent implementing regulations. The workshop will enable greater U.S. industry engagement with key stakeholders and capacity building for the Personal Data Protection Commission; the National Cybersecurity Agency; and affected local companies. The goal is to promote implementation of the laws in a manner that protects U.S. interests while opening new commercial opportunities for U.S. products and services that support data protection and cyber compliance. The workshop is being coordinated by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), USTDA’s implementing partner for the U.S.-Indo-Pacific Standards and Technology Cooperation Program (STCP). Key partners: The Software Alliance; Cisco; Microsoft; Oracle; Salesforce; Amazon Web Services; and RSA Security. Workshop dates: November 2020.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation – Government of India, in partnership with the U.S.-India Aviation Cooperation Program, will host the 7th biennial U.S.-India Aviation Summit in Washington, D.C. The Summit will bring together senior representatives from the public and private sectors of the U.S. and India’s aviation sectors to bolster long-term strategic and commercial aviation cooperation.