Energy Roundtable: Briefing on Japan and U.S. Cooperation in ASEAN's Energy Sector

Please join us for the fifth roundtable in the US-ASEAN Business Council's Energy Roundtable Series, which will feature a briefing by Mr. Aaron Ringel, Senior Advisor at the State Department's Bureau of Energy Resources. During the roundtable, Mr. Ringel will provide a briefing on cooperation between the United States and Japan on energy market and infrastructure development in Southeast Asia throug the Japan-U.S. Strategic Energy Partnership (JUSEP). Given the increasing role that JUSEP is playing in the roll-out of Asia EDGE in Southeast Asia, the roundtable will be an excellent opportunity to get a preview of what U.S.-Japan cooperation holds for ASEAN's energy sector in 2020. A Q&A will follow the briefing.

JUSEP has been promoting universal access to affordable and reliable energy in the Indo-Pacific region and sub-Saharan Africa since it was first announced in November 2017. JUSEP’s principles and focus areas reflect those of Asia Enhancing Development and Growth through Energy (Asia EDGE) and Japan’s corresponding initiatives and it has evolved into the principal bilateral interagency platform intended to identify and align U.S. and Japanese resources for use in advancing regional energy security objectives across the Indo-Pacific. 

Through JUSEP, Japan pledged $10 billion in public and private finance and capacity building training towards the U.S. Asia EDGE initiative, with a focus on facilitating high-standard investment in projects to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) or build LNG infrastructure. In September 2019 Japan announced that it intends to increase its public and private finance by another $10 billion. Also, in August 2019, the U.S. and Japan announced the Japan-U.S. Mekong Power Partnership (JUMPP), to which the United States committed an initial $29.5 million under Asia EDGE to promote economic growth and enhanced electricity interconnections among the Mekong countries through free, open, stable and rules-based regional electricity markets.

The Energy Roundtable Series is an initiative by the Energy Committee at the US-ASEAN Business Council to keep member companies well-informed of prevailing and shifting trends in Southeast Asia's vital energy sector.

If you have any questions about the roundtable, please email Riley Smith at rsmith@usasean.org.