The US views ASEAN, including Indonesia, as a focus of its foreign policy, US State Department’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia and the Pacific Scot Marciel said at a seminar in Jakarta recently.

He underlined the US’ commitment to further cooperating with ASEAN member nations by stepping up infrastructure development and providing technical and financial assistance for fighting poverty and improving education, health care, connectivity, integration, and people-to-people relations.

Marciel, a former US Ambassador to Indonesia from 2010 to 2013, also reiterated the commitment made by US President Barack Obama to strengthening ties with Indonesia during a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the recent ASEAN Summit in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar .

Regarding the Indonesian maritime axis, he added there are many areas of cooperation that could be undertaken between the US and Indonesia, particularly in infrastructure development.

Indonesia together with Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam forms the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).-VNA