Biden announced a new economic initiative in the Indo-Pacific region

President Biden, on an official visit to Japan, announced the launch of a new economic initiative in the Indo-Pacific (IPEF, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework).

“The future of the 21st century economy will, to a large extent, be written in the Indo-Pacific region, in our region,” Biden stressed at a press conference in Tokyo to mark the launch of IPEF.

He said that in the first phase, Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will join the initiative in addition to the United States and Japan. “The Indo-Pacific region accounts for half the world’s population and more than 60 percent of the world’s GDP,” Biden added.

IPEF will create new rules for the 21st century economy that will help the economies of all participating countries grow faster and on a level playing field. Biden suggested that IPEF participants make first-of-its-kind commitments that would guarantee stable and reliable supply chains for certain commodities. “And let’s aim for first-of-a-kind commitments to the pursuit of clean energy and decarbonization,” Biden added.

He also called for a vigorous fight against corruption, stressing that the world’s GDP loses 2-5% annually to corruption.