Yesterday, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo met with Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Dr. Kao Kim Hourn to discuss the Department of Commerce’s commitment to ASEAN and ASEAN member countries. The two discussed opportunities to increase trade and investment ties between the United States and the ASEAN region. The Secretary welcomed robust participation from ASEAN member countries at the Department’s SelectUSA Investment Summit from June 23-26 and increased Southeast Asian investment into the United States.

Secretary Raimondo also announced that the Department of Commerce will work with other U.S. government agencies to offer an expanded set of capacity building opportunities to ASEAN, in support of our economic engagement under the ASEAN-U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. As part of this effort, the Department of Commerce will continue to prioritize its work on standards with the ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards and Quality. It will also support AI-focused and other digital economy-related technical assistance the United States is providing to negotiators of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement.