US-PECC: Strengthening Trade and Economic Ties in the Indo-Pacific

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Save the dateJune 30 & July 1, 2021GMT-4 Add to Calendar

Organizer

Organizer: Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), National Center For APEC

Phone: +1 2064419022

Contact Person: Henry Snaza

Email: hsnaza@ncapec.org

Event Details

In recent years, leading economies in the Indo-Pacific concluded two major plurilateral trade agreements that exclude the United States. The Biden administration has expressed a desire to reverse this trend by re-engaging with multilateral institutions and bolstering economic engagement in this critical region. However, the domestic political environment makes neither U.S. accession to an existing trade agreement nor the launch of new talks likely in the near term. This two-part event will feature speakers from business, government and academia who will discuss the administration's trade and economic priorities in the Indo-Pacific and ways the U.S. can achieve its objectives when the usual tools for writing the rules of trade in the region are not at hand.

Event Date and Time

Day 1 - June 30, 10:00am - 11:00am ET

Day 2 - July 1, 11:00am - 12:00pm ET

Register for Day 1 Here

Register for Day 2 Here

Agenda

Day 1
June 30, 2021
Day 2
July 1, 2021

10:00 AM - 10:05 AM
Welcome and Program Overview
Welcome and Program Overview
Richard Cantor
Chair US-PECC, PECC co-chair, and Chief Credit Officer, Moody’s
10:05 AM - 10:20 AM
Opening Remarks
Opening Remarks
Richard Cantor
Chair US-PECC, PECC co-chair, and Chief Credit Officer, Moody’s
Rick Larsen
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02)
10:20 AM - 11:00 AM
Panel discussion: U.S. Priorities in the Indo-Pacific: digital governance
Panel discussion: U.S. Priorities in the Indo-Pacific: digital governance
Susan Aaronson
Research Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub at George Washington University
Kurt Tong
Partner at The Asia Group LLC
Peter Cowhey
Former Dean University of California San Diego School of Global Policy & Strategy and Qualcomm Endowed Chair in Communications and Technology Policy
Matthew P. Goodman
Senior Vice President for Economics and Simon Chair in Political Economy at Center for Strategic & International Studies
11:00 AM - 11:05 AM
Welcome and Program Overview
Welcome and Program Overview
Richard Cantor
Chair US-PECC, PECC co-chair, and Chief Credit Officer, Moody’s
11:05 AM - 11:20 AM
View from the Administration
View from the Administration
Facilitated by Richard Cantor
11:20 AM - 12:00 PM
Panel discussion: U.S. Priorities in the Indo-Pacific: Inclusive Trade
Panel discussion: U.S. Priorities in the Indo-Pacific: Inclusive Trade
Kurt Tong
Partner at The Asia Group LLC
Devry Boughner Vorwerk
CEO of DevryBV Sustainable Strategies
Eric Biel
Senior Advisor at Fair Labor Association

Speakers

Susan Aaronson (Research Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub at George Washington University)

Susan Aaronson

Research Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub at George Washington University

Edward Alden (Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow at Council on Foreign Relations)

Edward Alden

Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow at Council on Foreign Relations

Eric Biel (Senior Advisor at Fair Labor Association)

Eric Biel

Senior Advisor at Fair Labor Association

Richard Cantor (Chair US-PECC, PECC co-chair, and Chief Credit Officer, Moody’s)

Richard Cantor

Chair US-PECC, PECC co-chair, and Chief Credit Officer, Moody’s

Peter Cowhey (Former Dean University of California San Diego School of Global Policy & Strategy and Qualcomm Endowed Chair in Communications and Technology Policy)

Peter Cowhey

Former Dean University of California San Diego School of Global Policy & Strategy and Qualcomm Endowed Chair in Communications and Technology Policy

Matthew P. Goodman (Senior Vice President for Economics and Simon Chair in Political Economy at Center for Strategic & International Studies)

Matthew P. Goodman

Senior Vice President for Economics and Simon Chair in Political Economy at Center for Strategic & International Studies

Rick Larsen (U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02))

Rick Larsen

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02)

Kurt Tong

Partner at The Asia Group LLC

Kurt Tong

Partner at The Asia Group LLC

Ambassador Kurt Tong is a Partner at The Asia Group, where he leads the firm’s work in Japan and the broader East Asia region. A leading expert in diplomacy and economic affairs in East Asia, Ambassador Tong brings thirty years of experience in the Department of State as a career Foreign Service Officer and member of the Senior Foreign Service.
Prior to joining The Asia Group, Ambassador Tong served as Consul General and Chief of Mission in Hong Kong and Macau, leading U.S. political and economic engagement with that important free trade hub. Prior to that role, he served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs at the State Department from 2014 to 2016, guiding the Department’s institutional strengthening efforts as its most senior career diplomat handling economic affairs. He also served as the Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo from 2011 to 2014, where he played a key role in setting the stage for Japan’s entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership and supporting Japan’s recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake. In 2013, he received the Cordell Hull Award for Economic Achievement by Senior Officers for his outstanding success in advancing U.S. economic interests by reducing trade barriers, increasing market access for American products, and enhancing international cooperation across the Asia Pacific region.
Prior to these positions, Ambassador Tong served as Ambassador for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 2011, leading the U.S. chairmanship of the organization during one of the most productive periods for APEC. As Director of Korean Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, he played a leadership role in negotiations with North Korea as part of the Six-Party Talks and in securing the release of captive Americans held there. He was one of the original architects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement during the Bush and Obama administrations, including while serving as Director for Asian Economic Affairs at the White House National Security Council from 2006 to 2008.
Earlier in his career, Ambassador Tong served as Economic Minister-Counselor in Seoul, Counselor for Environment, Science and Health at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, Deputy Treasury Attaché in Tokyo, and as an economic officer in Manila. He published research on Japanese macroeconomic trends and U.S.-Japan economic diplomacy as a Visiting Scholar with Tokyo University’s Faculty of Economics, and before joining the Foreign Service, was an Associate with the Boston Consulting Group in Tokyo.
Ambassador Tong holds a B.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and studied economics at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute. He has also studied at the Beijing Institute of Education, Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies in Taipei, Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Tokyo, and International Christian University in Tokyo.
Ambassador Tong speaks and reads both Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. He was born in Ohio and raised in New England. The son of a collegiate athletic coach, Ambassador Tong enjoys tennis, golf and other sports. He is married to Dr. Mika Marumoto. They have three grown children.

Devry Boughner Vorwerk (CEO of DevryBV Sustainable Strategies)

Devry Boughner Vorwerk

CEO of DevryBV Sustainable Strategies

Documents

US PECC Policy Forum Bios.pdf

Sponsors and Partners

US-PECC: Strengthening Trade and Economic Ties in the Indo-Pacific

Day 1

Day 2

Welcome and Program Overview

Welcome and Program Overview

Opening Remarks

Opening Remarks

Panel discussion: U.S. Priorities in the Indo-Pacific: digital governance

Panel discussion: U.S. Priorities in the Indo-Pacific: digital governance

Welcome and Program Overview

Welcome and Program Overview

View from the Administration

View from the Administration

Panel discussion: U.S. Priorities in the Indo-Pacific: Inclusive Trade

Panel discussion: U.S. Priorities in the Indo-Pacific: Inclusive Trade

Susan Aaronson

Research Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub at George Washington University

Edward Alden

Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow at Council on Foreign Relations

Eric Biel

Senior Advisor at Fair Labor Association

Richard Cantor

Chair US-PECC, PECC co-chair, and Chief Credit Officer, Moody’s

Peter Cowhey

Former Dean University of California San Diego School of Global Policy & Strategy and Qualcomm Endowed Chair in Communications and Technology Policy

Matthew P. Goodman

Senior Vice President for Economics and Simon Chair in Political Economy at Center for Strategic & International Studies

Rick Larsen

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02)

Kurt Tong

Partner at The Asia Group LLC

Devry Boughner Vorwerk

CEO of DevryBV Sustainable Strategies

Organizer