Dear Members,
I write from Jakarta, where VP Mario Masaya and I, along with Citi President Batara, just finished leading our annual Indonesia Business Mission, featuring 21 high-level meetings and a dinner with Danantara CIO Pandu Sjahrir. The looming MSCI downgrade of Indonesia’s market status is getting lots of media attention, but the conversations we had were about continuing and growing USABC members’ solid investment and trade presence in ASEAN’s largest market, whose annual growth is expected to be close to 5% this year.
As this newsletter details, our teams in the region and in DC are extremely active covering issues that matter for members: AI, cybersecurity, energy, financial issues, customs modernization, agribusiness, and more. We are also engaging with new U.S. ambassadors going to the region and new ministers and other senior officials in the region.
I have a request: we are sending out our annual member survey early this year, so that we can use responses to inform early-December Board of Directors discussions, and so that we get ahead of the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. I ask that you take a thoughtful 10-15 minutes to complete the survey, and if you have additional comments or suggestions on how we can do better, message me directly at bmcfeeters@usasean.org, or WhatsApp 1-202-836-0592.
Please find the survey here.
To read the newsletter, please click on the download link below.
Best Regards,
Brian
