00:00One of the big things that we're seeing coming out from this weekend, a flurry of trade deals,
00:04includes for the likes of Malaysia and how there is more of a trade framework in place,
00:11including on critical minerals. That also involves commitments to buy $150 billion worth of U.S.
00:20goods. I mean, that's a big number. Where is that demand going to come from?
00:24Well, I think it's what you're seeing from the purchase, all those commercial deals,
00:31is a commitment on the part of Malaysia to complete a deal with the United States.
00:36Negotiations have been going on for a while, but they want a deal.
00:40And that's kind of a side part of the deal, but it's important.
00:44And as a result, I think Malaysia, Cambodia are getting deals.
00:49You've now got framework deals for Thailand and Vietnam.
00:54What that tells to the rest of the countries in the region is deals can be done.
00:58Stick with it. Negotiations are hard. Stick with it. But deals can be done.
01:03And I think it sends a really good signal to the entire region.
01:08Signal also from what is expected on critical minerals cooperation.
01:13We're hearing about MOUs with the ties, for example.
01:18Are you optimistic that it moves beyond that?
01:22And what do we need to see for there to be actual closer cooperation and securing the supply chains?
01:29I think the MOUs that are being signed and what's included in the statements suggests tight cooperation
01:37on not only mining critical minerals, but also processing.
01:42And what is really needed is financing.
01:45And what we've seen is the World Bank, ADB, and the private sector are all willing to step up.
01:51There's an important Australian company, Linus, that is doing some processing.
01:57Malaysia is doing processing.
01:59And you can see the possibility existing now of a lot of cross-border collaboration between ASEAN countries
02:07in mining the minerals, then processing them, then getting them to where they're needed.
02:13I think there's an enormous opportunity here for the private sector to step in because the framework now exists
02:20and it didn't exist before.
02:22So really promising steps being taken here.
02:25That being said, we are also seeing businesses, including U.S. businesses,
02:29being affected by earlier in the year some of these rare restrictions imposed by the Chinese.
02:36What are you hearing from the businesses that you represent?
02:39I'm hearing that they think it's going to work out.
02:41I'm hearing a level of confidence.
02:44And that level of confidence and certainty is increased by the fact that we're here.
02:50U.S. leaders are here in the region.
02:54They're paying attention to this region.
02:56The negotiators are actively engaging and turning out deals with ASEAN countries.
03:02And financiers are stepping up.
03:04So the pieces are now in place for actual mining to take place, processing to take place,
03:12pieces that really didn't exist earlier.
03:14Are they experiencing some disruptions from the Chinese restrictions from earlier on in the year?
03:20I'm not hearing about disruptions.
03:23I'm hearing the companies that are involved in chip fabrication, the tech companies that we work with a lot in the council.
03:31They're not talking about disruptions.
03:33They're talking about opportunities.
03:34Remember, this is the fastest growing region in the world.
03:37Southeast Asia plus South Asia are going to be driving global growth for the next 20, 30 years.
03:43And so what we are hearing from our companies are, in this moment of some uncertainty, there are opportunities.
03:52And we're trying to, one of the things we try to do is bring in an element of certainty.
03:59The private sector has been here for a long time.
04:02It's invested heavily in this region.
04:04It's here to stay.
04:05Our companies aren't pulling back.
04:07They're stepping forward.
04:08They're doing more and more in Southeast Asia.
04:11Absolutely.
04:11What about the trade deal between the U.S. and Vietnam?
04:16I think we have a framework in place.
04:18It could be announced in the coming weeks.
04:19Are you actively involved in some of those negotiations?
04:23We were facilitating those discussions really from the very beginning.
04:28But the two sides are talking.
04:30We're not part of the discussions, but we've been encouraging them.
04:34At every stage, we've been encouraging both sides to stick with it.
04:37And what you see in the framework that was announced yesterday is space to work out the rest of the deals, even if it's not all done in the next few weeks.
04:48Even if it takes a couple of months, they're going to get there.
04:52What are the outstanding issues?
04:56I think one of the big issues is transshipments.
04:58And what is the definition of transshipments?
05:01What's the percentage component of inputs from outside that will be considered transshipments?
05:09That remains an important issue.
05:11And then what we've seen with the Malaysia deal is there are going to be a lot of exceptions.
05:16So what will be the exceptions for Vietnam that will be included in the deal?
05:21I'm sure the Vietnamese are going to negotiate hard.
05:24I'm sure the U.S. side is going to negotiate hard.
05:26But by issuing this framework, they've bought themselves time to work out those details.
05:35And I am very confident that they will.
05:37They're going to finish this deal.
05:38What are the growth areas you are most optimistic on for sector-specific investments?
05:45We're very optimistic about tech.
05:47Tech companies are here in force.
05:49We're very optimistic about health and life sciences, about energy.
05:54And the energy transition is very much underway in Southeast Asia, including in Vietnam.
06:00We're optimistic also about food and agriculture.
06:03And you'll see in the framework, the Vietnam framework, some of the non-tariff barriers that existed before and tariffs have been removed.
06:14So there can be more exports of U.S. agricultural goods as well as exports of Vietnamese agricultural goods to the United States.
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