Media Note
The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and Japan.
Begin Text:
Today, the U.S. Department of State and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as part of the cooperation under the U.S.-Japan Economic Dialogue led by Vice President Mike Pence and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, hosted the Second Public-Private Sector Roundtable Discussion on U.S.-Japan Cooperation on Third Country Infrastructure.
During the roundtable, a wide range of U.S. and Japanese government agencies and numerous companies identified avenues to expand cooperation to assist Indo-Pacific and other nations in securing quality infrastructure and best value solutions that meet their sustainable social and economic goals. More than 150 government officials and private sector representatives attended the roundtable and they identified specific activities in the areas of commercial cooperation, joint financing and risk mitigation, policy advocacy, and capacity building. Participants discussed opportunities to cooperate more effectively in the fields of (1) energy, (2) transportation, (3) water and sanitation, and (4) telecommunication.
Participants welcomed concrete progress from U.S.-Japan cooperation, including:
(1) A photovoltaic (solar power) project in Jordan, the first co-financing project from the MOU between Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI);
(2) Enhancing government support to liquefied natural gas (LNG)-related infrastructure developments in the Indo-Pacific;
(3) Collaboration between the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) to provide training and other capacity building assistance to strengthen and improve procurement practices in Vietnam and the Philippines and to cooperate on feasibility studies and/or technical assistance support on LNG infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia;
(4) Commercial projects pursued by U.S. and Japanese companies in LNG to power and gas-fired power in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates and a fiber-optic (optical) submarine cable system project;
(5) Cooperation to upgrade the APEC Guidebook on Quality of Infrastructure Development and Investment and accelerating Peer Review and Capacity Building; and
(6) Planning by the two governments to hold a bilateral ODA dialogue to coordinate assistance and capacity building programs.
The United States and Japan also confirmed a list of ongoing cooperative activities in Indo-Pacific and other nations that will promote quality infrastructure and best value solutions.
U.S.-Japan Infrastructure Cooperative Activities
Joint Financing:
- OPIC-JBIC/NEXI MOUs in November 2017
- Mitsui/AES in Jordan with OPIC-NEXI joint financing
Commercial Collaboration and Market Development:
- LNG to Power project in Bangladesh
- Jawa1 LNG-Fired IPP project in Indonesia
- Gas-Fired IPP Project in Sharjah, UAE
- Enhancing government support for LNG-related infrastructure development in the Indo-Pacific
- Philippines – U.S. Ambassador Kim and Foreign Commercial Service hosted an event with Japan to promote infrastructure collaboration
- Discover Global Markets event in Kansas City week of April 30
- LNG roundtable hosted by Commerce with METI participation in Houston on March 21
- USTDA hosted Expanding Global Gas Infrastructure – Energy Exports Week event in Washington, DC in cooperation with METI on March 22
- USTDA-METI cooperation on feasibility and/or technical assistance support on LNG in ASEAN region
- Fiber-optic (optical) submarine cable system project
Policy Advocacy:
- APEC Guidebook on Quality Infrastructure Development and Investment and APEC Guideline for Quality of Water Infrastructure
- APEC Economic Report 2018, cooperation on infrastructure
- APEC High Level Meeting on Quality Infrastructure in October 2017 and new proposal in 2018 for APEC CTI
- The International Working Group on Export Credits, cooperation on developing guidelines
Capacity Building:
- USTDA-METI MOC in November 2017
- USTDA and METI collaboration to provide training and other capacity building assistance to strengthen and improve procurement practices in Vietnam and the Philippines
- Bilateral ODA Dialogue in June or July with the goal of coordinating assistance and capacity building programs (DoS and MOFA)
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