FACT SHEET: $50B+ of U.S. Private Sector Investments into APEC Economies, as well as Private Sector Contributions to Sustainability, Inclusivity, and Resilience

Under President Biden’s leadership, the U.S. host year of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has demonstrated that the United States is uniquely positioned to drive sustainable, inclusive, dynamic growth in one of the most vibrant and economically important regions in the world.

American businesses are the largest source of foreign direct investment in APEC economies. The United States’ strong and resilient economy remains an indispensable driver of prosperity and innovation across our partners in the Asia-Pacific. Our public and private sectors continue to deliver for APEC economies, catalyzing sustainable, high-quality investments that create good jobs within APEC member economies as well as in the United States.

Many of these investments also advance the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI), President Biden and the G7’s flagship infrastructure initiative for leveraging the expertise and financing from the private sector to scale quality investments in low- and middle-income countries to generate economic growth.

Today, U.S. companies represented at the APEC CEO Summit highlighted and announced over $50 billion of investments into APEC economies in 2023. This slate of announcements includes:

• Nearly $25 billion in additional investments to increase digital connectivity and resilience throughout our region, including new subsea cables—both across the Pacific and within APEC economies—that will result in more than $1 trillion in GDP over the next four years, making our economies more interconnected and secure.
• 50+ new direct flights per week from the United States to APEC economies to support increased people-to-people & business-to-business ties and trade/shipping; this steep growth in flights marks the largest U.S. airline expansion into the South Pacific in history.
• Significant investments in a wide range of sustainability and clean energy technologies, including carbon sequestration, grid decarbonization, and sustainable aviation fuel.
• Trailblazing investments and financings that both drive economic growth and advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s values, including an investment in an environmental markets platform that includes an employee ownership plan, an investment into a South Carolina manufacturing facility to produce generic and high-quality drugs for the APEC region, and more.
• Tens of millions invested in—and the launch of multiple new platforms dedicated to—cybersecurity and preparedness, particularly for small- and medium-sized businesses.
• New training and opportunities—including seed funds and hands on training—for hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs, underrepresented groups, and small businesses.
• More than two dozen new partnerships between cutting edge U.S. companies and APEC-based universities that will focus on catalyzing technology innovations across semiconductors, augmented & virtual reality, and a new 100,000 qubit quantum-centric supercomputer.

Participating companies—represented by over 200 CEOs and C-Suite Executives in attendance at the APEC CEO Summit—made announcements supporting the three policy pillars of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week, making the Asia-Pacific more: (1) Inclusive and Interconnected, (2) Green and Sustainable, and (3) Resilient and Secure. These announcements include:

Inclusive & Interconnected Pillar:
Example investments from American companies that will further the integration of a “Digital Pacific,” foster broader economic participation, and promote equality and inclusion, include:

• Amazon and the U.S. Department of State launched a public-private partnership in Latin America in support of the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs program and American Spaces (Mexico-based), which includes pitch competition seed funds and access to Amazon learning products for more than 100 women entrepreneurs.
• Amazon Global Selling launched its first cross-border e-commerce launchpad program in Singapore, an initiative to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with growth opportunities in cross-border e-commerce, assisting 100+ Singapore micro-SMEs to launch/scale their brands.
• Amazon Web Services announced plans to invest $20.26 billion into highly secure and resilient cloud infrastructure over the next 15 years across Australia ($8.38 billion by 2027), South Korea ($5.88 billion by 2027), and Malaysia ($6 billion by 2037).
• Amazon Web Services committed to train 100,000 people in New Zealand with cloud skills over the next five years, particularly underrepresented communities such as women, Māori, and Pasifika.
• Anthropic announced a $100 million partnership/investment with SKT which will provide AI capabilities to the Korean telecom provider; the companies together will also develop custom, multi-lingual AI models to best meet the needs of telecom providers around the world.
• Astranis Space Technologies invested $100 million to bring affordable, reliable, high-speed internet connectivity to millions of citizens in the Philippines across thousands of rural schools, hospitals, and SMEs via its MicroGEO broadband satellites, in partnership with Astranis’ Philippines-based partner, Orbits Corp.
• Coupang newly committed over $40 million in 2024—and $130+ million over the next 3 years—across Asia in additional funds toward the recruitment, employment, and promotion of women in the areas of software engineering, data science, and logistics, professions in which women have been traditionally underrepresented.
• Delta Air Lines rolled out nonstop flights to Asia, including an announcement earlier today on a new daily service from Atlanta to Seoul, Korea; as well as recently announced daily service from Seattle—and three flights a week from Detroit—to Shanghai, China; and daily flights from Honolulu and Minneapolis to Tokyo, Japan.
• Google announced its support of the APEC App Challenge, in partnership with the APEC Secretariat and the Asia Foundation, continuing to nurture the growth of developers, the driving force behind innovative digital solutions.
• Google, earlier today, announced collaborations with the Governments of Thailand and Malaysia to bolster government cloud partnerships and policies, support digital upskilling, and expand infrastructure investments.
• Google and partners will deliver two new trans-Pacific subsea cables, helping increase the reliability and resilience of digital connectivity in the Pacific; these types of investments will drive economic benefits of approximately $627 billion in GDP between 2022 and 2026.
• KKR announced a $400 million investment in Optic Marine Services: an offshore telecom infrastructure services provider operating in the Asia–Pacific region, and a $665 million investment in Singtel: one of the largest data center operators in Singapore.
• KKR announced its investments in digital connectivity for the Philippines by supporting its portfolio company Pinnacle Towers in a “buy and build” acquisition strategy to establish a network of mobile phone towers.
• KKR pioneered a private equity investment ($68 million in GreenCollar, an environmental market platform) in Australia with a broad-based Employee Ownership Plan, which enabled GreenCollar’s employees to share in the proceeds from the sale.
• Mastercard announced earlier this week its Center for Inclusive Growth is launching Strive Women, and its Impact Fund will invest $9 million into the initiative, improving the financial health of women-led micro/SMEs and reaching more than 6 million entrepreneurs across Peru, Vietnam, and Pakistan.
• Meta announced it is building and investing in significant new trans-Pacific and intra-Asia Pacific regional subsea cables that have been estimated to contribute over $422 billion in additional regional GDP (in real terms) over four years, and support up to 3.7 million additional jobs.
• Meta announced it is providing researchers in APEC with access to research grants and engagement opportunities on innovative new technologies: the APAC XR Academic Network, launched in October 2023, brings together academics and researchers from 14 universities across 8 APEC economies, working on 19 pieces of independent research.
• Meta announced it will provide artificial intelligence (AI) training to 500 million people across APEC economies in 2024, particularly entrepreneurs from micro/SMEs; the training highlights how AI tools can support digital transformation in key sectors and boost business productivity.
• Micron announced partnerships with 17 universities and polytechnics across APEC member economies in Asia to strengthen, scale, and cultivate a robust and inclusive semiconductor workforce for the future to complement the American workforce; Micron also announced the establishment of the U.S.-Japan University Partnership for Workforce Advancement and Research & Development in Semiconductors (UPWARDS) for the Future with six U.S. and five Japanese universities.
• Microsoft is expanding high-speed internet access and meaningful connectivity through its partnership with satellite internet provider Kacific for the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, and other countries; the partnership is focused initially on 750 schools and healthcare clinics with the goal to extend internet access to 10 million people by the end of 2025.
• Microsoft recently announced a $3.2 billion investment in Australia, which will expand the company’s data center and AI infrastructure over the next two years and train more than 300,000 Australians with the skills required for a cloud and AI-enabled economy.
• NVIDIA announced support of 5,000+ startups (nearly 1,000 new over 2023) via its Inception program across APEC economies by providing cutting-edge technology, opportunities to connect with venture capitalists, and access to the latest technical resources.
• RingMD invested $5 million in digital infrastructure to support the Government of India’s common service center initiative under Digital India – the initiative will promote telehealth services as a component of the healthcare system to 800+ million underserved rural citizens.
• RingMD will invest $6 million to enhance the Digital Health system of Vietnam’s Ministry of Health by modernizing an interoperable electronic health/medical record system for their main hospitals – the program will be rolled out over all 60+ Vietnamese districts.
• United Airlines made the largest South Pacific network expansion in aviation history in 2023, adding 40% more flights between the U.S. and Australia/New Zealand, and new non-stop flights from the U.S. to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taipei, and Manila; additionally, this fall, United is resuming daily flights between San Francisco and Beijing and will increase flights to Shanghai from San Francisco, thanks to the U.S. government’s engagement with China.

Green & Sustainable Pillar:
Example investments from American companies that will support the clean energy transition and sustainable business practices across APEC economies, include:

• Apple announced a new partnership with Gravity Water in Vietnam to provide climate-resilient rainwater harvesting and filtration technology to over 130 schools in Hòa Bình Province; in its first year, the initiative is estimated to provide over 30,000 children in need with access to reliable drinking water, while conserving 15.4 million gallons of groundwater.
• Apple helped launch the Clean Energy Buyers’ Alliance’s Clean Energy Procurement Academy last month; the initiative aims to educate suppliers operating across industries within the Asia-Pacific region on clean energy markets, and help build their capacity to procure renewables like wind and solar projects.
• Boeing will partner with APEC economies to advance efforts in developing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) supply chains and promoting its use by the region’s airlines, reducing lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions dramatically compared to conventional jet fuel, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration.
• Citi helped facilitate nearly $12 billion worth of transactions around the world, advancing sustainability and the clean energy transition, including the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s green bond, LG Energy Solution’s global green bond, Malaysian energy company Petronas’ India-based green ammonia venture, LG Energy Solution’s new electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing facility in Arizona, and General Motors & Samsung SDI’s new EV battery cell plant in Indiana.
• ExxonMobil signed two agreements with Indonesia this week, which could comprise up to a $15 billion investment and substantially boost industrial growth and decarbonization in Indonesia and potentially across the Asia-Pacific, by assessing the potential for a carbon sequestration hub and exploring development of a lower emissions petrochemical facility enabled by carbon sequestration.
• Flexport, in partnership with CHOOOSE, launched an aviation decarbonization solution last week, offering its air freight customers easy access to sustainable aviation fuel certificates via a book-and-claim system.
• Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, will partner with TransitionZero in building an open-source electricity modeling tool for policymakers to accelerate grid decarbonization, helping them carry out detailed energy system and investment planning.
• KKR announced a $250 million follow-on investment ($675 million total) in an Indian decarbonization platform, Serentica Renewables, to support the company’s effort to achieve 4000 megawatts of installed renewable energy capacity that will aid clean energy delivery to large-scale industrial customers.
• Mastercard announced acceleration of its efforts to remove first-use, PVC plastics from payment cards on its network by 2028, scaling the accessibility of more sustainable card offerings and amounting to the equivalent of more than 17 million tons of new plastic transitioned to more sustainable materials.
• Nuveen, a TIAA company, will invest $300 million in clean energy infrastructure across the Asia-Pacific region through 2027, adding 450 megawatts of clean energy assets towards net zero goals.
• PepsiCo broke ground in August on a new 60,000 square meters manufacturing facility in Cikarang, West Java, as part of a $200 million investment, which will enable local production of PepsiCo’s favored snacks within Indonesia’s sustainable economic landscape; the plant will employ 100% renewable electricity, implement full recycled water replenishment, and pave the way for Indonesian farmers to embrace next-generation agricultural practices and technology.

Resilient & Secure Pillar:
Example investments from American companies that will shore up reliable supply chains, bolster regional health and cyber preparedness, and support small- and medium-sized businesses/enterprises (SMBs/SMEs) across APEC economies, include:

• Airbnb is announcing an MOU with the Philippines to promote women’s entrepreneurship in tourism, and it plans to invest nearly $5 million to help more communities across the APEC member economies reap the benefits of tourism; over 2023 thus far, more than 350,000 people in APEC member economies started hosting their home on Airbnb.
• Amazon opened its fourth Australian Disaster Relief Hub to reduce response time to natural disasters to within 48 hours.
• Citi provided a $100 million trade loan to ICICI Bank, supporting on-lending to low-income women micro-entrepreneurs primarily in rural India.
• Flexport launched services to enable thousands of U.S. SMBs to automate the movement of their products from Asia-based manufacturers all the way to 20+ major U.S. marketplaces, retail stores, and direct to customers’ doors.
• Freeport-McMoRan’s subsidiary, PT Freeport Indonesia, invested over $1.6 billion for smelter projects in 2023, including construction of the world’s largest single-line copper and precious metal smelter and expansion of an existing smelter.
• Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, provided $15M to The Asia Foundation to launch the APAC Cyber Security Fund in partnership with CyberPeace Institute and Global Cyber Alliance to bolster cyber capabilities of 300,000 underserved micro/SMBs, nonprofits, and social enterprises.
• IBM announced it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Equine Global, an Indonesian-based enterprise resource planning and cloud consulting services provider, in order to help clients in Indonesia modernize their core businesses.
• IBM launched a 10-year, $100 million, partnership to develop a 100,000 qubit quantum-centric supercomputer with the University of Tokyo and the University of Chicago.
• KKR announced a $230 million into LEAP India Private Limited, the largest Indian pallet pooling player with a pan-India network of 21 warehouses and 3,500 customer locations.
• Mastercard invested $10 million in its Singapore Cyber Center of Excellence to support security, resilience, and capacity building efforts; additionally, in Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Federation of Small Businesses, Mastercard’s Cybersecurity Academy is providing free cybersecurity tools and resources tailored to SMBs’ needs.
• Mavenir and Korea-based SOLiD announced an advancement in Open RAN radio interoperability to enhance 5G in-building experiences.
• Mavenir, Softbank, and NVIDIA partnered to advance end-to-end communications using virtualized radio access network components.
• Organon launched an initiative called “Her Plan is Her Power,” investing $30 million to improve maternal and reproductive health care in low-resource settings where need is great through youth-empowered education and leveraging AI-powered technology.
• Pfizer announced that it recently invested $1 million into three Canada-based startups via its Healthcare Hub, one of its 18 active Healthcare Hubs around the world (including China and Singapore) which identify and support digital healthcare start-ups that have scalable solutions.
• RingMD and Pasaca Capital are investing in a South Carolina medical device and generic drug manufacturing facility to ensure a resilient and secure supply chain for APEC member economies; it is anticipated that the investment will be $500 million in value.
• United Airlines demonstrated its commitment to the Pacific Islands with humanitarian aid, providing over 40,000 pounds of relief cargo including water, hygiene kits, comfort kits, clean-up kits, IT equipment, and blood products to support local hospitals and clinics.
• Visa Foundation announced yesterday it is pledging $100 million over five years to accelerate access for underserved and women-led SMBs in APEC economies; the pledge is focused on advancing digital financial inclusion, stimulating job creation, and increasing access to capital to drive economic mobility.
• Visa Inc. announced yesterday it will launch a new initiative to accelerate digital enablement of underserved SMBs in the U.S. and developing economies, with an initial focus on APEC economies: Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, and Vietnam; Visa is prioritizing economies that have digital development needs, where cash still accounts for the majority of spend.

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