On commercial diplomacy, the United States is shifting assistance toward private-sector-led growth, including efforts with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan to connect every Pacific Islands Forum country to a trusted undersea cable network. A second Pacific Investment Summit is scheduled to be hosted in early 2027.

On Indonesia’s plan for 100 gigawatts of solar capacity, Danly cautioned that actual output would be significantly lower and that countries experiencing rapidly rising electricity demand would still require dispatchable baseload power. He said the United States wanted to provide both fuel and technology for that purpose.

Dan Petrie, the Acting Chief of Staff of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, said MCC had signed a $60 million Energy Threshold Program hours earlier. The programme aims to lower high electricity costs and improve reliability by modernising the Energy Regulatory Commission, strengthening electric cooperatives, piloting smart-grid technologies and unlocking domestic capital for power infrastructure.

Mace said the United States is supportive of Vietnam’s plans to host APEC in 2027 and sees the year as an opportunity to deepen economic ties in Southeast Asia. Ongoing U.S. priorities include expanding energy exports and American AI and digital technologies.

Citing U.S. data from 2024, she said IP-intensive industries generated $11.4 trillion in GDP, 44 percent of private-sector output, supported 65.8 million jobs, and accounted for more than 80 percent of commodity export value. Copyright-intensive sectors, including music, delivered the highest earnings premium, with workers earning 130 percent more than those in non-IP industries.

“Logistics and communications are the decisive edge because they set the limits of our operational capabilities,” Filcek said. 

United States looks forward to strengthening long-standing relations with Uganda in trade, investment and regional security cooperation.

Uganda has confirmed the arrival of eight individuals transferred from the United States after their asylum applications were denied,...