Former Congressman Ed Case, a Democrat, emailed supporters on Wednesday night about Hawaii’s “major stake” in the country’s Asia-Pacific policy. Case is running for the U.S. Senate seat that Daniel Akaka is vacating when he retires next year.

“Simply put, we stand to benefit tremendously from wise stewardship of our relationships with our neighbors,” Case wrote, “and to face special challenges if we don’t get it right.”

Case also shared a link to an interview with Bill Sharp of Asia in Review, a ThinkTech Hawaii program devoted to exploring issues related to Asia. 

In November, when Honolulu hosted the APEC conference, the Obama administration made it clear that the United States is prioritizing a focus on the Asia-Pacific region. 

In the interview with Sharp, Case called APEC “a tremendous success.”