Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Pete Nguyen provided the following statement:

Today the Department of Defense's Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs (IPSA) announced the Maritime Security (MARSEC) Consortium, a new public-private initiative focused on transforming maritime security in Southeast Asia. 

The MARSEC Consortium brings together defense industry investors, companies, U.S. government policy and innovation officials, and Southeast Asian government decision-makers committed to identifying low-cost, commercially available solutions to meet interested Southeast Asian partners' most pressing maritime security challenges.  IPSA is launching the MARSEC Consortium in collaboration with the Defense Innovation Unit, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

The MARSEC Consortium will convene decision-makers, operators, and solution providers.  Together, they will match policy objectives and operational challenges with commercially available solutions, demonstrate those capabilities, and expedite delivery.  Ensuring Southeast Asian allies and partners have impactful, cost-effective means to monitor, manage, and enforce maritime security interests will increase regional and global peace, security, and prosperity.

In the coming months, the MARSEC Consortium will pursue these goals through the following lines of effort:

• Advance upwards of $95 million annually toward low-cost, commercially available solutions to strengthen maritime domain awareness, logistics and sustainment, and maritime defense in Southeast Asia;
• Regularly convene stakeholders across the DoD enterprise and industry to mitigate barriers to delivering commercially available solutions;
• Work with likeminded partners to align security cooperation activities along MARSEC Consortium objectives;
• Expand technology demonstrations for allies and partners in multilateral exercises such as BALIKATAN.

The United States envisions a Southeast Asian region free of coercion where safety, security, sovereignty, self-determination, and prosperity are shepherded by ASEAN centrality.  With more than 60 percent of global maritime trade transiting Southeast Asia by ship, the maritime domain is central to security and prosperity in Southeast Asia.  The United States is committed to ensuring these trading lanes remain free and open for all.