AmChams of Asia Pacific 2022 Virtual Doorknock Kick Off [Virtual]

Event Details

AmChams of Asia Pacific (AAP) will kick-off its 2022 Virtual Door Knock with a session with Melissa Brown, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and Matt Murray, US Senior Official for APEC.

This AAP series is designed to give the member of the AmChams of Asia Pacific direct access to the decision and policy makers and thought leaders on what is happening in Washington, DC, as well as to give the members the opportunity to give their first-hand perspective on what is happening in the region.

This event will kick-off with a discussion on the US government's overall Indo-Pacific Strategy. We will then move to a discussion on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, followed by an update from Matt Murray who can discuss the state of APEC 2022, hosted by Thailand, and an initial discussion on the US hosting APEC in 2023.

Remarks

AmCham members ONLY
Event is off the record and held under Chatham House Rules
Dial in details will be shared one day before the event

Speakers

Melissa Brown

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs at US Department of State

Matt Murray

US Senior Official For Asia-pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Bureau Of East Asian And Pacific Affairs at US Department of State

Steven Okun (Moderator)

Chair, AmChams of Asia-Pacific at Senior Advisor, McLarty Associates

Melissa A. Brown is the Deputy Assistant Secretary with responsibility for the Office of Mainland Southeast Asia Affairs and the Office of Maritime Southeast Asia Affairs.

From 2019 to 2021, Melissa served as the Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., at the U.S. Mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she led an unprecedented expansion of U.S. engagement with ASEAN, as well as efforts to mobilize ASEAN to resolve the political crisis in Burma. Previously, Melissa was the Counselor for Economic and Political Affairs at U.S. Embassy Singapore from 2016 to 2019, where she also served as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission for one year and oversaw execution of the historic 2018 U.S.-DPRK Singapore Summit.

A Southeast Asia expert with a strong trade policy background, Melissa was previously assigned to Jakarta, Indonesia, as the Trade and Investment Unit Chief in U.S. Embassy Jakarta’s Economic Section. In Washington, she was also detailed to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and served on the U.S. State Department’s Vietnam Desk. Her earlier overseas diplomatic assignments included: Port Louis, Mauritius, and Bangkok, Thailand.

Before joining the Foreign Service, Melissa was a corporate legal assistant. A graduate of Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Melissa grew up in New Jersey and Jakarta, Indonesia. She speaks Indonesian and French and has studied Khmer (Cambodian) and Hungarian.

Matt Murray was appointed as the U.S. Senior Official for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in February 2022. In this role, he coordinates U.S. participation in APEC and also oversees the Office of Economic Policy in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Prior to his current assignment, Matt led the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs (EB) as Senior Bureau Official from August 2021 to January 2022, and he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Trade Policy and Negotiations from September 2020 to August 2021.

Matt has focused on U.S. economic engagement with the Asia Pacific region throughout his State Department career, including as Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, Counselor for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, and Special Assistant for East Asian and Pacific issues in the Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment.

Matt is a Senior Foreign Service Officer who also has served overseas in Beijing, Shanghai, Dar es Salaam and New Delhi and in Washington, D.C. as Director of the 24/7 Watch in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He has master’s degrees from the U.S. Army War College and the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s degree from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.

Steven Okun is Senior Advisor for geostrategic consultancy McLarty Associates, and CEO of APAC Advisors, an ESG consultancy which partners with private capital firms.

This is his fourth time elected as Chair of AmCham’s of Asia Pacific, previously serving from 2009-2012). He has been active in American Chambers of Commerce throughout his time in Asia, including serving four terms as Governor of AmCham Singapore, being elected its Chair three times.

In creating and leading KKR’s Asia Pacific Public Affairs from 2011-2017, Steven’s regional leadership focused on KKR’s government relations, communications and ESG initiatives. Prior to joining KKR, he created and led Asia public affairs for global logistics firm UPS (2003-2010), and led their international aviation negotiations team in Washington, DC (1999-2003)..

A member of the Clinton Administration, Steven served as Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Transportation where the Secretary awarded him a Special Service Commendation.

A sought-after expert, he speaks frequently in the media, authors regular commentary and gives speeches and presentation to businesses, universities and at conferences across the region.

Steven is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Virginia School of Law and has lived in Singapore since 2003.

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AmChams of Asia Pacific 2022 Virtual Doorknock Kick Off [Virtual]

Event Details