(Washington, DC) The US-ASEAN Business Council is organizing the tenth annual U.S. Ambassadors Tour from June 2-13, 2002, the Council announced today. The Tour, in which the United States Ambassadors and Senior Commercial Counselors to Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are participating, will visit San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle, Detroit, New York, and Washington, DC.

"There is a sense of urgency about the Tour this year. Not only is ASEAN a huge market for America -- our third largest overseas customer -- it is in a period of historic transition," said Ernest Z. Bower, President of the US-ASEAN Business Council. "Many of its members are important partners in the fight against terrorism. Economic growth is returning to these 10 countries, and the new political systems are accountable to voters who want jobs and opportunities. To sustain this growth, leaders in many of the ASEAN countries are looking to implement reforms and the business models in the region are changing rapidly." Bower added. "The US Ambassadors will help American CEOs and policy leaders understand these changes and deepen our involvement in this strategic market."

Since 1992, the U.S. Ambassadors Tours have visited more than 30 major American cities and metropolitan areas to educate businesses, public officials, students and academics, the media, and the public at large about business opportunities and the business and economic environment in ASEAN. In that period, the Ambassadors and Senior Commercial Officers have met with and provided information and assistance to thousands of small, medium, and large U.S. companies seeking trade and commercial opportunities in the ASEAN region.

Since the first U.S. Ambassadors Tour, the ASEAN region has undergone profound change. Expanding in number from six countries to ten, ASEAN now includes all the countries of geographic Southeast Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). At the time of the first Tour, U.S. exports to the region were US$24 billion; in 2001, they stood at US$43 billion. Despite the sharp economic downturn during the Asian Financial Crisis and the uneven growth since then, U.S. exports to ASEAN are more than double those to China, nearly triple those to Brazil, are more than ten times those to India, and even exceed those to markets such as France, Germany, and the U.K. Meanwhile, between 1992 and 2000, U.S. investment in the region tripled, from US$17 to US$51 billion. The United States is the top export market for ASEAN, and is the leading foreign investor in most of the larger ASEAN markets.

The 2002 U.S. Ambassadors Tour is being sponsored by American International Group, The Boeing Company, Edison Mission Energy, Unocal Corporation, Qualcomm, Inc., United Airlines, and Verizon Communications.

The United States Ambassadors participating in the 2002 U.S. Ambassadors Tour Include:

For more information on the 2002 U.S. Ambassadors Tour, visit the US-ASEAN Business Council Web site at http://www.us-asean.org/ustour2002/.

The US-ASEAN Business Council is America's leading private business organization dedicated to promoting increased trade and investment between the United States and the member nations of ASEAN. The Council's membership includes approximately 150 of the Fortune 1000 American companies with trade and investment interests in the ASEAN region, and the council's members are represented in diverse industries, including aerospace, agribusiness, automobiles, computers and information technology, consumer goods, energy exploration and development, express delivery services, financial services, health care and pharmaceuticals, software, and telecommunications. For information on the US-ASEAN Business Council or general information on the ASEAN region, please contact John Goyer at [email protected] or visit the Council's Web site at www.us-asean.org.