The US private sector will not sever seven decades of investment in
Southeast Asia because of who occupies the White House, said US
ambassador to Singapore Kirk Wagar.
Acknowledging a high number of inquiries generated by Donald Trump's
presidential bid, Wagar said while his country's democratic process was
noisy, it had built-in checks and balances.
"The one that is always forgotten is the private sector," Wagar said in
an interview on Saturday on the sidelines of the annual Shangri-La
security dialogue in Singapore.
Estimating that around 50 million Southeast Asian citizens had either
worked for or had interaction with a US company over the last 70 years,
Wagar said he did not "think that the chief executive officer (CEO) of
Microsoft, of Facebook or General Motors is going to decide on their
investment strategy on whether Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump are president."
Trump's emergence as the Republican presidential nominee, and his
opposition to the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact
that's been led by the US, has prompted concern among Southeast Asian
nations that Obama's Asia rebalancing strategy might be quickly followed
by a pivot away, if Trump wins in November. Clinton, who is still in a
race with Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination, has also spoken
against the pact, which would bind nations in a bloc that currently
excludes China. The focus has now turned to attempts to get the
agreement ratified by Congress in a brief window after the November
vote. (Read More)
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