WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary

Gina Raimondo is leading a presidential trade and investment

mission to the Philippines starting Monday as the United States

looks to fortify economic ties across the region.

Raimondo plans to tout the Philippines as a key hub for

regional supply chains and investment in support of the U.S.

Indo-Pacific Strategy during the visit on Monday and Tuesday.

She will then travel to Thailand for two days of meetings for a

presidential export council mission.

"We want to deepen our economic engagement in the

Indo-Pacific, which is dynamic - some of the fastest growing,

dynamic economies of the world," Raimondo said in an interview,

saying the trip aims to ramp up "our economic and commercial

ties in the Indo-Pacific."

Security engagements between the Philippines and the United

States have stepped up considerably under President Joe Biden

and his counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr, with both leaders keen

to counter what they see as China's aggressive actions in the

South China Sea and near Taiwan.

Raimondo said she is often asked if the United States is

asking countries in the Indo-Pacific to choose between China and

the United States.

"Absolutely not - but we want the United States to be the

economic partner of choice," Raimondo said. "For that to happen,

we have to show up and show up in the country with money, with

collaboration and consistently show up."

Raimondo

made a trip in China in August

where she met Chinese leaders and touted U.S. firms'

desire to do business in China.

The U.S. delegation to the Philippines includes

executives from 22 companies including United Airlines,

Alphabet's Google, Black & Veatch, Visa ,

EchoStar ( SATS )/DISH, United Parcel Service ( UPS ) ,

Boston Consulting Group, KKR Asia Pacific, Bechtel,

FedEx ( FDX ), Mastercard ( MA ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ), the

White House said.

United said last week it would launch new flights from

Tokyo-Narita to Cebu, Philippines starting July 31. Raimondo

said she hopes there will be new U.S. investment announcements

this week in the Philippines and that talks this week will lay

the groundwork for future commercial investments.

Raimondo's Thailand visit will focus on manufacturing,

supply chain resiliency, artificial intelligence, and clean

technology. In Bangkok, Raimondo will participate in a hybrid

meeting of the U.S-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for

Prosperity (IPEF) Ministerial with IPEF partners following

meetings in November.