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US International Development Finance Corporation targets Asia as Washington seeks to offer alternative to Chinese cash
- DFC is America’s latest effort to deepen its presence in the region under President Donald Trump’s Indo-Pacific strategy
- But years of heavy investment under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative may mean US push will have a limited impact
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Kinling Loin Beijing
A new US aid agency has started operating in Asia in the hope of offering an “alternative source” of funding to China’s increasing infrastructure investment in the world’s most populous region.
The US$60 billion United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) had its funding officially approved by Congress at the end of December.
It has already started reaching out to allies and partner countries in the Asia-Pacific.
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“Right away, we wanted to come to the Indo-Pacific, and that’s because the region is critically important to the United States and critically important from an investment perspective,” Adam Boehler, the group’s chief executive, said on Wednesday as he started a tour of Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia to meet government leaders and potential investment partners.
“We have had repeated requests and it is the most common thread in every meeting where people say, ‘Hey, I may have taken capital, whether it’s from China or from others, and there may be certain risks associated with it, but we didn’t have an alternative here.’ And so there is no question that the DFC is meant to be a strong investment alternative for nations,” Boehler said.
The newly established agency is the latest attempt by the US to deepen its foothold in Asia – where it is the dominant military power, but is struggling to match China’s economic leverage, through investments made as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
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