US to host IPEF ministerial meeting in San Francisco next week
NHK | 7 November 2023
US to host IPEF ministerial meeting in San Francisco next week
The administration of US President Joe Biden has announced it will host a ministerial meeting of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, or IPEF, next week.
IPEF is an economic partnership among 14 countries, including the US, Japan and India.
The IPEF members have been negotiating in four areas, including strengthening supply chains for critical goods, such as semiconductors, and facilitating trade.
The US government on Monday said that trade ministers from the IPEF partners will meet in San Francisco on November 13 and 14.
In May, the ministers reached a substantial conclusion in their negotiations on supply chains. They agreed to cooperate on increasing production of critical goods or through joint procurement in case the supply of such goods stops due to a pandemic or conflict.
The ministers are aiming to reach agreements in the three other areas.
IPEF members have been negotiating to achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific on the economic front amid China’s increasing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
The US and Chinese governments have basically agreed to hold a summit meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month on the sidelines of the APEC forum due to be held in San Francisco.
Eyes are on what results the US-led IPEF meeting can produce in the run-up to the US-China summit.
