(VOVworld) – The United States unveiled a new Maritime Security Initiative for Southeast Asia at the informal defense ministers’ meeting in Hawaii on Sunday.

US President Barack Obama in a conference in Vientian, Lao, September 6, 2016 (Photo: EPA/VNA)

“The Diplomat” news agency reported that US Defense Minister Ashton Carter also unveiled the Pentagon’s future plans for Southeast Asian countries. Washington stressed that the US-ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Informal Meeting was a prove to ASEAN’s importance in the Obama administration’s “rebalance policy” to the Asia-Pacific, and the US’s ongoing military force improvements. The US will host several US-ASEAN events in this area, including an ASEAN maritime dialogue and a maritime awareness exercise. In addition, the US Coast Guard will strengthen maritime security cooperation with ASEAN countries.