All the sound and fury in the Indo-Pacific is not for nothing.
The Indo-Pacific is home to seven of the world’s largest militaries for good reason. The region stretches from the U.S. Pacific coastline to the Indian Ocean.
More than half of the world’s people call the Indo-Pacific home.
It produces nearly two-thirds of the world’s economy and is expected to drive two-thirds of global economic growth sooner than later.
Strategic Location
The Philippines is important to Washington not just for its strategic location. It’s a major destination for American dollars as well.
Last March, in a first-of-its-kind visit to the Philippines, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo brought over honchos from 22 American companies, including United Airlines, Google, Visa, and Microsoft.
More than $1 billion of investments in solar energy, electric vehicles, digitization, and so on are coming soon, Raimondo promised; that’s a P55 billion promise.
U.S. investment lags behind Singapore's, which, in 2021, invested P80.2 billion, nearly half of the P192.3 billion foreign investments that year. The U.S. is only third when it comes to top investors in the country – after Singapore and Japan.
Biggest Trading Partner
In contrast, China is our largest trading partner worth $39 billion (P2.1 trillion plus) in 2022, or a fifth of total trade.
On the other hand, China accounted for less than 1 percent of foreign direct investments in 2022, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
The United States, not surprisingly, considers itself an Indo-Pacific power. More American military personnel are assigned in the region than in countries outside the continental U.S. of A. With the 73-year-old Mutual Defense Treaty, the Philippines is America’s oldest treaty ally in the Asia-Pacific.
Shared Domains
The Indo-Pacific supports more than 3 million American jobs; the region is the source of nearly $900 billion in foreign direct investment in the United States.
Central to U.S. strategic thinking is that its vital interests and those of its closest partners require a free and open Indo-Pacific. This requires shared domains that are governed lawfully.
Thus, one of its strategies is to ensure that the region’s seas and skies are governed and used according to international law.
The Quad
Many American moves are designed towards this end. For example, the Quadrilateral Dialogue or The Quad – which groups Australia, Japan, India, and the United States – is committed to supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific. Since 2015, it has provided more than $48 billion in financing infrastructure in the region.
The inclusion of India in The Quad is part of Japan’s Indo-Pacific concept of a free and open Indian and Pacific Oceans stretching from Asia to Africa.
The Indo-Pacific’s maritime territories include the Pacific Ocean, the Coral Sea, the Solomon Sea, the Tasman Sea, the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea, the Philippine Sea – and the Indian Ocean.
Uncertainty In The Region
Last May 22, Japan’s Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuya paid a courtesy call to Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro. Endo said that he will continue enhancing security and defense cooperation amidst increasing uncertainty in the region.
Then there is the Australia, United Kingdom, and the United States trilateral security partnership. Called AUKUS, it started in 2021 and differs from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance that includes New Zealand and Canada.
AUKUS involves advanced cyber mechanisms and artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, undersea capabilities, hypersonic and counter-hypersonic, electronic warfare, and information sharing. The International Center for Defense and Security calls the partnership "a powerful statement” about the importance of the Indo-Pacific.
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