Record-breaking data on the US economic relationship with the Indo-Pacific, from two-way trade to foreign direct investment, proves Washington remains firmly committed to the region, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Monday. Ross’s presence as the most senior US official attending meetings with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) – instead of President Donald Trump or even Vice-President Mike Pence – led many observers to conclude Washington has grown less serious about maintaining its presence in Asia. Ross however told the Indo-Pacific Business Forum, on the sidelines of the 18-nation East Asia Summit in Thailand’s Nonthaburi province, he had deliberately “thrown a lot of large numbers” during his 20-minute speech to “prove our deep and continuing commitment to the region”. What’s the difference between Indo-Pacific and Asia-Pacific? “As you gather again in future years, our numbers will only get bigger,” Ross said. He said two-way trade between the US and the Indo-Pacific grew by 6 per cent to a record US$2 trillion last year – more than the overall value of all but eight countries’ economies. Ross added that the US$2 trillion figure “far surpassed” US bilateral trade with Europe (US$1.5 trillion) and its trade with Central and South America (US$1.2 trillion). “So you can see how important the relationship with this region is compared with our relationship with other major regions in the world,” Ross said. The cumulative stock of bilateral foreign direct investment between the Indo-Pacific and the US meanwhile increased by 5.9 per cent to US$1.6 trillion dollars, he said. Total US investment in the region was US$866 billion last year. “That is far more, for example, than China’s foreign direct investment in the region,” Ross said, pointing out the bulk of Beijing’s outbound capital to the region went to Hong Kong in 2017. As you gather again in future years, our numbers will only get bigger Wilbur Ross He also lauded the fact the 10-nation Asean region was the top destination for US investment in the Indo-Pacific. The cumulative US$271 billion invested in Asean was “US$29 billion more than the US FDI in China and Japan combined”, Ross said. Ross also hailed the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy, presented in 2017 as a doctrine to guide Washington in its engagement with Asia. Beijing views the doctrine as a roundabout way for the US to contain it by persuading Asian countries to champion a “rules-based international order” – interpreted by Chinese officials as a reference to a world order with the US at its centre. Ross said the Trump administration would “continue the values that have served the Indo-Pacific so well”, referring to “respect for the sovereignty of all nations, the peaceful resolution of disputes, an open commercial environment with transparent agreements that encourage investment and connectivity, and an adherence to international law including freedom of navigation and overflight”. Ross did not mention the US-China trade war or the two superpowers’ broader geostrategic tussle. 16 Asian countries close in on mammoth trade agreement at Asean summit, but will India be in? Shadow boxing between the world’s two biggest economies, so often the highlight of the East Asia Summit, has been muted this year as Asean countries have focused on using the meeting to conclude the vast Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal that includes China but not the US. The 16 countries involved were expected to announce a further delay in concluding the pact amid domestic opposition to the deal in India , one of the major economies that will form the proposed free trade zone encompassing 39 per cent of the global economy. Ross on the weekend told Bloomberg the RCEP – severely watered down following major carve outs – was a “low-grade treaty” that was “not a free trade agreement”. Beijing has used intimidation to try to stop Asean nations from exploiting the off-shore resources Robert O’Brien, US envoy Later on Monday, US envoy and national security adviser Robert O’Brien denounced Chinese “intimidation” in the South China Sea and invited Southeast Asian leaders to a special summit in Washington on behalf of President Trump. China has made sweeping maritime claims in the resource-rich waters of the South China Sea, and angered neighbours by sending ships into the busy waterway, where several Asean members also have claims. “Beijing has used intimidation to try to stop Asean nations from exploiting the off-shore resources, blocking access to US$2.5 trillion of oil and gas reserves alone,” O’Brien told the Asean-US summit. “The region has no interest in a new imperial era where a big country can rule others on a theory that might makes right.”. He also read a message from Trump inviting the ASEAN leaders to “join me in the United States for a special summit, meeting at a time of mutual convenience in the first quarter of 2020”. Additional reporting by Reuters