United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III will be visiting the Philippines next week, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.

In a statement, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Austin’s visit to Manila is part of Washington’s “ongoing efforts to modernize our alliances and partnerships toward our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Austin will also make trips to other Indo-Pacific countries such as Australia, Fiji and Laos, Ruder said.

“As part of his twelfth official visit to the region, Secretary Austin will first travel to Darwin, Australia for multilateral meetings with regional allies and engagements with US Marines from the Marine Rotational Force-Darwin,” he said.

“From there, Secretary Austin will make his fourth visit to the Philippines, where he will advance security objectives with Philippine leaders and meet with US and Philippine forces,” he added.

Austin’s visit to Manila is likely to be his final trip to the Philippines as Defense chief, as the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump prepares to install a new defense team.

Earlier in the day, Trump announced the nomination of Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Army veteran, as the incoming Secretary of Defense.

Austin’s next stop will be Laos, where is expected to participate in the Association of Southeast Asian Nation’s Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus to “reaffirm the US commitment to ASEAN centrality at the ASEAN-United States Informal Meeting, and identify future areas of cooperation with regional counterparts.”

“Secretary Austin will conclude his trip in Fiji, marking the first ever visit by a US Secretary of Defense, and he will meet with key Fijian leaders to deepen the bilateral defense relationship,” Ryder said.

“Secretary Austin’s trip comes as the United States builds on unprecedented cooperation with like-minded countries to strengthen regional security,” he added.