SAN FRANCISCO: Leaders of the 14 member nations of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, or IPEF, on Thursday confirmed achievements they made since kicking off talks on the initiative in autumn last year.

The positive results include reaching substantial agreements on a clean economy and a fair economy, two of the IPEF’s four pillars, and signing an agreement on supply chains, another pillar. The countries, including Japan and the United States, have yet to reach an agreement on the remaining pillar of trade.

The US-led IPEF initiative is designed to establish common rules for the four areas to counter China’s growing influence.

At the IPEF summit in San Francisco on Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he believes that the initiative is vital for achieving sustainable economic growth and responds to the needs of the current times.

US President Joe Biden announced a plan for the US government to team up with companies and financial institutions to make loans and investments and provide technical assistance to carbon reduction projects in IPEF member countries.

The transition to clean energy “can’t be done without trillions of dollars of private-sector investment,” Biden said.

In a joint statement released earlier in the day, the IPEF members said that they will facilitate technological cooperation and promote investments for decarbonization under the clean economy pillar.

For the field of fair economy, they vowed to work together to fight corruption and tax evasion.

JIJI Press