US to give further economic boost to WA The US Ambassador to Australia has visited Perth to launch a foreign commercial services office. THE United States will open a foreign commercial services office in Perth, paving the way for even more international investment in Western Australia's booming economy. The US is already the largest investor in WA - ahead of countries like China and the UK - and the new office is expected to expand that investment. US Ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich said the state was "at the heart" of the entire export strategy for the US in Australia. "We believe in WA and now we're even better equipped to help WA through services that reflect fair trade, a fair go, honest dealing and high quality," he told reporters in Perth on Wednesday. Mr Bleich said the new office showed that US companies, such as energy giants Chevron and Apache, had confidence in the state's economy well into the future. "These aren't five-year deals, these are 30, 40, 50-year plans," he said. I think that is a reflection on the fact that we don't see this as a boom. Prices will go up and they'll go down a little bit, but in terms of prosperity relating to these resources, we see this as a very long term proposition and so we're putting the infrastructure in place to meet the demand. There will also be opportunities for smaller businesses to invest, Mr Bleich said. He said having stronger economic ties created an opportunity for the US and Australia to look at forming firmer alliances in other areas. The US already has foreign commercial services offices in Canberra and Sydney. Mr Bleich said the US had similar offices in Asia, but the addition of Perth was one of the biggest and most rapid expansions it had undertaken in one country, following the opening of the second for the US in Canberra last year. "I think it's just a recognition of the economic realities in the world," he said. This is the area where the greatest economic growth and demographic change is occurring in the world - here in the Asia Pacific. We have no better partner in the world than Australia, because it has the same standards that we have.