Sarah joined Intel in February of 2022 with decades of global policy expertise. Before joining Intel, she served as the Associate Vice President (AVP) for Global Health Policy/ESG Strategy for Organon and was Merck’s AVP for Public Policy for Asia Pacific and the Emerging Markets.

Anuja has 19+ years of experience in non-market strategy and help global companies and start-ups navigate complex policy environment, mitigate risks,  and create social impact across highly regulated sectors such as aerospace & defense, agriculture & food, digital & internet, healthcare, and telecom. 

Shakilla Shahjihan is Divisional Vice President, Government Affairs at Abbott based in Singapore. She leads an award-winning team across strategic markets focusing on external stakeholder engagement to help drive business priorities. Prior to joining Abbott, Shakilla has held various positions in corporate affairs, marketing and sales at Monsanto, Boston Scientific and Merch Sharp and Dohme. 

2025 Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) ProgramSponsorship Deadline: COB Friday, December 20, 2024Through the 2024 DEFA Workshop Series Program, the Council and member companies were able to engage directly with the DEFA Negotiating Committee (NC), register the private sector’s interest, and provide feedback and recommendations to shape the ASEAN DEFA. With the targeted adoption of the agreement by November 2025, the Council sees an important opportunity to continue our engagement with the DEFA NC and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that DEFA is high standard, interoperable and commercially meaningful. It is important that AMS reach consensus on a DEFA without compromising the quality of the agreement. This creates a great opportunity for the U.S. business community to continue offering thought leadership, sharing technical knowledge and best practices to help AMS, especially the less developed, to catch up with the DEFA commitments schedule.A forward-looking DEFA, if implemented effectively, can unlock the digital economy for up to US$2 trillion by 2030 and open opportunities for investment and public-private partnership. However, there remain pressing challenges in closing the digital gap among the AMS and fragmented regulatory practices between countries have made it difficult for business to navigate their operations in the region. Through the Council’s engagements with the DEFA negotiators this year, we have also identified the urgent need to consolidate views among the domestic agencies in the individual ASEAN Member States (AMS) that would eventually implement DEFA commitments. This can only be accomplished through a close collaboration between the public and private sectors, with tailored support and assistance to the respective AMS to address their different digital economy readiness.The Council would like to invite members to participate in this advocacy journey towards DEFA adoption in 2025 through the following efforts:Submission of proposed texts in key aspects of DEFA via the ASEAN SecretariatThree in-country capacity building workshopsSPONSORSHIP PACKAGE AND BENEFITSPlatinum: $50,000 (2 companies)Designated as the Council’s Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) Co-Chairs with the opportunity to lead and shape the direction, priorities, work plan, and strategy for engagement with DEFA Negotiating Committee and the priority AMSOpportunity to lead and provide direction in shaping the Council’s proposed text for DEFA and other supplementary documents on key topics for the DEFA negotiatorsProminent speaking role for keynote address and panel discussions at three workshopsBecome the spokespersons on the Council’s DEFA initiatives when participating in the relevant ASEAN Ministerial Meetings (AEM, ADGMIN and AFMGM)Quoted in press releasesGold: $35,000 (4 companies)Attendance in all workshops, with speaking role in panel discussions at two workshopsOpportunity to provide input on priorities and strategic engagement with the DEFA negotiators, including in shaping the Council’s proposed text for DEFA and other supplementary documentsAcknowledgement in press releasesSilver: $20,000 (4 companies)Attendance in all workshops, with speaking role in one workshop.Opportunity to provide input to the proposed text for DEFA and other supplementary documentsAcknowledgement in press releasesTo express interest or for further questions, please reach out to Mario Masaya (mmasaya@usasean.org) and Marcella Suwandhi (msuwandhi@usasean.org) by COB Friday, December 20, 2024.

The America Matters for Indonesia initiative is a strategic effort to spotlight the positive and lasting impact of U.S. businesses in Indonesia. Supported by a grant from the U.S. Embassy Jakarta, this initiative serves as a unified platform to showcase how U.S. companies contribute to Indonesia’s economic growth, job creation, innovation, and social development. Through a combination of media campaigns, research-based storytelling, and high-level engagement opportunities, the initiative will bring to light the role of U.S. businesses as key partners in Indonesia’s sustainable development.

Advocacy Program for a one-year extension of UL Solutions’ partnership with Quatest3 (QT3) in Ho Chi Minh City (“Program”) to take place in Vietnam in December 2024 – March 2025.