Supporting SE Asian Smart Cities is Critical for Region and U.S.

Strategically, the U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership reaffirms U.S. commitment to the region at a time of uncertainty. Since the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), ASEAN leaders have held doubt regarding U.S. engagement in and with the region. The Smart Cities Partnership assuages this doubt, and complements the recently announced $113 million investment pledge in technology, energy and infrastructure initiatives in emerging Asia that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called “a down payment on a new era of U.S. economic commitment to the region.”