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Enron Mail |
DATE: October 25, 2001
TO: US-ASEAN Business Council Members FROM: John Goyer Director, Regional Affairs US-ASEAN Business Council Tel: (202) 416-6706 Fax: (202) 289-0519 E-Mail: jgoyer@usasean.org Best Business Briefing on the ASEAN Region: www.us-asean.org RE: ASEAN Update: 1. Save the date: ASEAN-US Dialogue to be held in Washington, Nov 29 2. Brunei to host ASEAN Summit, Nov 5-6. 1. Save the date: ASEAN-US Dialogue, Nov 29 to be held in Washington, DC. The ASEAN-US Dialogue, a government-to-government forum led by the U.S. Department of State and the ASEAN Foreign Ministries, is the main channel for U.S. government engagement with ASEAN as a regional entity. The Dialogue covers a broad agenda of economic, political, and security issues. The U.S. official delegation will be led by Jim Kelly, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific. Representatives of the U.S. Commerce Department and U.S. Trade Representatives Office will also participate. The official ASEAN Delegation will include senior officials from all ten countries' foreign ministries. The US-ASEAN Business Council takes the lead in coordinating U.S. private sector input into the Dialogue, and we are encouraging members to take advantage of this forum, which provides an opportunity for Council members to brief both the U.S. and ASEAN governments on issues that affect business on a regional basis. Some of the issues that Council members have raised at past dialogues include Information Technology / electronic commerce, regional customs issues, air services liberalization, the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), and other topics. For your reference, the highlights from the last ASEAN-US Dialogue, held in May 2000, are on the Council's Web site at <http://www.us-asean.org/ASEANOverview/dialogue2000/joint_private_sector _statement.htm<. A formal invitation will follow within the next several days. In the interim, if your company is interested in participating, please contact me. 2. ASEAN Summit, November 5-6, 2001. Brunei will host the 7th ASEAN Summit, at which the ten ASEAN heads of government will meet on November 5-6, 2001. The Summit will be followed by the ASEAN + 3 Summit and ASEAN +1 Summits, which will include the ASEAN heads of government and their counterparts from China, Japan and Korea. While much of the discussion will focus on cooperation against terrorism, the economic portion of the Summit's agenda is expected to include a report by the ASEAN-China experts group. Since last year, this group has been undertaking a preliminary study on an ASEAN-China free trade area, and the group is expected to recommend that negotiations commence. ASEAN officials have indicated to us that the focus will be less on tariffs and more on joint economic cooperation, non-tariff barriers, and other areas. There are no significant new announcements expected regarding the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the ASEAN Investment Area (AIA). The official web site of the 7th ASEAN Summit can be found at: <http://www.aseansummit2001.org.bn/<;. End memo. ************************************************************************ ************************************************* If you need assistance in the region, please contact: US-ASEAN Business Council, Singapore Stephen Pattillo Tel: [65] 339-8885 Fax: [65] 339-1982 E-Mail: srpasean@pacific.net.sg US-ASEAN Business Council, Philippines Philip Gielczyk Tel: [632] 895-4333 Fax: [632] 895-3007 E-Mail: pgielczyk@pacific.net.ph US-ASEAN Business Council, Indonesia David Hutagalung Tel: [6221] 573-0407 Fax: [6221] 574-4981 E-Mail: dhutagalung@usasean.org
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