Australian and US leaders to discuss Pacific infrastructure, critical minerals
investing.comBy Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) — Australia and the United States will announce plans to cooperate on critical minerals and bolster Pacific Islands infrastructure when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits Washington this week, a senior Biden administration official said.
Albanese's White House schedule begins Tuesday, Washington time, and is focused on broadening Australia's security alliance with the United States into an economic and technology partnership, Albanese told reporters in Washington on Monday.
The two leaders will flesh out details of further cyber security cooperation, in addition to a $5 billion Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) investment in Australia, the Biden administration official said.
Several announcements, including the infrastructure project, will showcase U.S.-Australia cooperation in the Pacific.
«This is an absolute imperative for both of these leaders… that we do stay deeply focused on the Pacific Islands,» the official, Mira Rapp-Hooper, special assistant to the president and senior director for East Asia and Oceania on the National Security Council, told Reuters.
«The prime minister's visit this week is an important reminder that our president, our commander-in-chief, is very much able to keep his steady gaze on the Indo-Pacific and our long-term interest there as he manages the crisis at hand,» she added, referring to the world's focus on the Middle East.
A critical minerals task force to boost private investment in Australia's rare earths industry and reduce global reliance on China will be the centrepiece of Albanese's schedule, with Australia committing another A$2 billion ($1.27 billion) in financing to «de-risk» private sector involvement.
Albanese said on Tuesday Australia would «help to
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