Blinken: US, ASEAN improving tracking of infectious disease outbreaks, addressing online scams

VIENTIANE — The United States has been working with the ASEAN in monitoring infectious disease outbreaks and eradicating the prevalence of online scams in the region.

This was according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the ASEAN-US Summit in Lao PDR. Blinken is President Joe Biden's representative in the 2024 ASEAN Summit and Related Summits.

Washington is also pushing for the use of a ''trustworthy'' artificial intelligence (AI) in the ASEAN region, Blinken said.

''The United States remains the number one source of foreign direct investment in ASEAN countries. This is a meaningful measure of trust, confidence in the future. It's also a powerful generator of jobs and opportunity,'' Blinken said.

''Together, we're improving monitoring of infectious disease outbreaks. We're upgrading the region's power grids. We're fighting cyber crime and online scams. We're promoting safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence,'' he added.

When it comes to AI, Philippine President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. said he looks forward to the adoption of the ASEAN-US Summit Leaders’ Statement on Promoting Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence.

''This highlights the importance of AI governance and interoperability between governance frameworks through further cooperation to support the completion of a meaningful and substantive ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) that advances an open, secure, interoperable, competitive, and inclusive digital economy,'' Marcos said.

The Philippine leader also appreciated the US' continued support for a number of
critical health areas such as infection prevention and control, public health emergency management, regional laboratory diagnostics, and pharmaceutical regulation.

In the past four years, the US and ASEAN have made a stronger and wider partnership.

To recall, Biden, in 2022, hosted a summit in Washington with ASEAN leaders to raise their relationship from a strategic partnership to a "comprehensive strategic partnership.''

''Every day, our cooperation is helping to better the lives of our combined one billion people, creating economic opportunity, fostering technological innovation, advancing a shared vision of an open, prosperous and secure Indo Pacific, with ASEAN at its center,'' Blinken said.

Blinken said the US and the regional bloc would continue to strengthen the economic ties that have long brought our countries together. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News