‘Critical’ for US to stay engaged with Asia, PM Lee tells Speaker Pelosi

WASHINGTON: It is “critical” for the United States to stay involved and engaged in the Asia-Pacific, while developing and growing its economic ties with the region, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday (Mar 30) as he attended a bipartisan leadership meeting at the Capitol in Washington.

Delivering brief remarks at the start of the meeting, Mr Lee, accompanied by US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, pointed to America’s Indo-Pacific Economic Strategy and in particular, the forthcoming Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

“We hope to see this bear fruit in years to come,” said the Prime Minister, who is on a working visit to the US until Apr 2.

He also said that security of the Asia Pacific is “vital to the stability and prosperity” of the region, and the US is “a big part of this story”.

Mr Lee noted that Singapore and the US share a “strong and enduring partnership”, as well as a “mutually beneficial” one, which stretches across many areas such as economic and security.

Singapore is also “very grateful for the longstanding bipartisan support” from the US Congress, he added, citing how the National Defense Authorization Act has named Singapore as a major security cooperation partner of the US.

“We look forward, however, to continue to develop and grow the relationship and to explore new areas of cooperation,” said the Prime Minister.

These new areas include climate change, cybersecurity, infrastructure development and in particular sustainable infrastructure projects, as well as partnerships relating to growth and innovation.