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(Jakarta) – The US-ASEAN Business Council conducted its Indonesia Digital Economy Virtual Meeting Series from July 27 to August 25, 2020. The virtual meeting series demonstrated the commitment of the U.S. technology business industry in supporting the Indonesian government’s efforts to support the digital economy. The virtual meeting series reinforces US-ABC’s ongoing advocacy efforts with the Government of Indonesia to ensure a dynamic, competitive, efficient, and fair digital economy system.
The US-ABC delegation included twenty leading American technology companies lead by US-ABC Chairman, President, and CEO, Alexander C. Feldman, US-ABC Senior Vice President & Regional Managing Director, Ambassador Michael W. Michalak, the Chair of US-ABC’s Indonesia Committee and Chief Executive Officer for Citi Indonesia, Batara Sianturi, and the Chair of US-ABC’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Committee and President for Cisco Systems in ASEAN, Naveen Menon.
Singapore - The US-ASEAN Business Council joined the 29th Meeting of the ASEAN Directors-General of Customs for a virtual discussion on August 19. The meeting is part of 23-year long engagement between the Council and the 10 ASEAN Directors-General of Customs that has examined ways to improve trade connections in Southeast Asia. The Council’s delegation of four top U.S. companies is led by Senior Vice-President and Regional Managing Director of the Council, Amb. Michael Michalak, as well as Chair of the Council’s Customs and Trade Facilitation Committee and Vice President of Public Affairs for UPS, Shiumei Lin.
On August 11, the US-ASEAN Business Council, with the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises, and the Indonesian Employers’ Association (APINDO), conducted a webinar for Indonesian SMEs on digital payments. The event was part of a broader webinar series in response to the COVID-19 crisis. More than 200 owners and executives of Indonesian SMEs participated in the webinar on “Promoting Secure Digital Payments for Indonesian SMEs.”
The webinar was officially opened by Ambassador Michael Michalak, SVP and Regional Managing Director of the US-ASEAN Business Council, along with Mr. Navin Jain, Country Manager, Mastercard Indonesia.
(Thailand) – On July 10, the US-ASEAN Business Council with the Office of SMEs Promotion (OSMEP) Thailand and the Thammasat Business School conducted a webinar for Thailand SMEs. The event was part of a broader webinar series in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Around 100 owners and executives of Thailand SMEs participated in the webinar session titled “Enhancing Digital Skills from Thailand SMEs in COVID-19.”
(YANGON, MYANMAR) - The US Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Council for Myanmar announced the appointment of Gretchen Kunze last week as its new Executive Director. An international development specialist, Kunze has held regional and country director positions for over 12 years, including working in Myanmar as the Country Director of Cardno Emerging Markets and Country Representative of World Learning.
(Washington, DC) - The US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) today hosted a Senior Leaders Forum on U.S.-ASEAN Health Cooperation. This virtual forum was a private sector response to three events: (1) the ASEAN-United States High-level Interagency Video conference on Cooperation to Counter COVID-19 that took place on March 31, 2020; (2) the meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and the ASEAN Foreign Minsters that took place on April 22, 2020 during which the US-ASEAN Health Futures Initiative was launched; and (3) the meeting between U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and ASEAN Health Ministers that took place on April 30, 2020.
(WASHINGTON, DC) – The US-ASEAN Business Council today launched a new report, “COVID-19 Financial Response and Recovery in ASEAN”, to present key economic policy recommendations from the Council’s Financial Services Committee in response to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The full report can be accessed here.
Governments in ASEAN and around the world have undertaken swift, extensive and in some cases unprecedented policy actions to help economies respond to and recover from the impact of the pandemic, and this report provides further recommendations for consideration by ASEAN policymakers.