Former ambassador to head US-ASEAN Business Council

[reader]

From Washington Diplomat

The US-ASEAN Business Council, a powerful Washington-based corporate association active in 10 Southeast Asian countries, has named Ted Osius as its new president and CEO.

Osius, a former US ambassador to Vietnam, assumed his new job Aug. 23, replacing Alexander Feldman, who led the council for 12 years. Feldman has since relocated to Singapore as president of Boeing Southeast Asia.

In a Sept. 8 interview, Osius told The Washington Diplomat that COVID-19 recovery efforts top the agenda of his organization, whose main mission is to promote US trade and investment in the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

“With the emergency response to covid, the private sector can help fill in some of the gaps, not necessarily in providing vaccines, but at least support for those who are in trouble—oxygen, PPE, home health kits, that sort of thing,” he said. “Our council’s been very involved in this, and our companies have been phenomenal. Once the epicenter shifted from India to Indonesia, we kicked into gear, and now we’ll be looking at other countries in ASEAN that need our help.”

In the longer term, Osius called for “greater openness” in trade policy by ASEAN member states to speed up the post-covid return to economic normalcy.

“ASEAN used to be characterized by openness, but there’s been a little retreat during covid, some hunkering down,” he said. “That’s natural. Governments are looking after their own people first. Regulations have sprung up overnight because countries are very worried. But harmonizing those regulations will help accelerate the recovery. Specific pieces need to be dealt with, like supply chains and moving people across borders.”

Formed in 1984, the US-ASEAN Business Council comprises 170 member companies. Together, they generate nearly $7 trillion in revenue and employ more than 14.5 million people. Besides Washington, the council has offices in New York, Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore and Yangon.

https://washdiplomat.com/ted-osius-ex-us-envoy-in-hanoi-to-head-us-asean-business-council/