2023 Business Mission to the 55th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Meeting

The US-ASEAN Business Council is registering senior-level executives for the Business Mission to the 55th ASEAN Economic Ministers' (AEM) Meeting. The Mission will take place in-person at the Padma Hotel, Semarang, Indonesia, from Sunday, August 20, to Tuesday, August 22.

The Mission will feature a plenary session with the AEM and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) officials, as well as bilateral meetings with priority Economic Ministers, the Office of the USTR, Secretary-General of ASEAN, and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC).

MISSION THEMES
This year marks the Council's 24th consecutive Business Mission and engagement with the AEM. In line with Indonesia's Priority Economic Deliverables as the Chair of ASEAN in 2023, the Mission will focus on the following themes:

Enhancing ASEAN's global economic competitiveness with a robust, high-standard, and commercially meaningful Digital Economy Ecosystem by sharing industry expertise to support the development of an ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), upgrading of ATIGA, further regional harmonization of trade related standards, and enabling ASEAN based businesses to better leverage the implementation of AMS's FTA's and other regional economic frameworks.
Promoting harmonization of standards and conformity assessments to advance ASEAN's integration as a single market and production hub for emerging sectors e.g. Electric Vehicle (EV), digital and green infrastructure.
Offering support for the region's transition towards a green and sustainable economy by establishing rules and framework that facilitate tech-based, low-carbon, circular initiatives to achieve ASEAN's net-zero objectives.

A recommendation paper will be developed and submitted to the AEM, outlining the Mission themes and recommendations from the U.S. private sector. A separate call for input on the paper will be disseminated separately.

Mission participants can propose other mission themes or discussion topics. To do so, please contact Marcella Suwandhi(msuwandhi@usasean.org) and Celine Kusnadi (ckusnadi@usasean.org). Proposed themes and discussion topics will also be discussed during the Mission planning calls.

PROPOSED MEETINGS
The following meetings are being proposed. Given possible conflict and overlapping meeting schedule, please indicate the importance of these meetings in your registration:

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)
ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC)
Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) Brunei Darussalam
Ministry of Commerce (MOC) Cambodia
Ministry of Trade (MOT) Indonesia
Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC) Lao PDR
Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) Malaysia
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Philippines
Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) Singapore
Ministry of Commerce (MOC) Thailand
Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) Vietnam
ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) Chair

Additional meetings can be requested with sufficient interest from the mission participants and subject to the officials' availability.

To ensure our delegation is best represented as a committed partner for the AEM, priority speaking roles will be given to companies registering high-level executives in the meeting.

MEETING TALKING POINTS, MATERIALS, AND SOCIOECONOMIC & CSR REPORTS
All application materials (including registration form, delegate bios, company profile, logo, talking points and company issues) should be submitted through the Business Mission registration ASAP.

We encourage members regardless of Mission participation to submit their company's Socioeconomic and CSR initiatives to be included in the US-ABC ASEAN Committee Socioeconomic and CSR Report by filling in the form here. This submission is open to all US-ABC members.

MISSION FEE

USD 4,500 for early bird registrations received BY July 28, 2023 (up to two representatives)
USD 5,000 for registrations received AFTER July 28, 2023 (up to two representatives)
USD 750 fee for each additional representative beyond the first two.

Payment can be made by check, wire transfer or credit card. An invoice will be issued upon registration. Details are available in the online registration.

Mission fees cover expenses for program preparation and execution, overhead costs, and hired service vendors (e.g. meeting room rental). Delegates are responsible for their own travel, meals, lodging, local transportation, visas, COVID-19 requirements, and all other related travel costs.

Note: Once your registration is initiated, you have the option to cancel your registration and receive a full refund up to Friday, July 28, 2023 COB. After Friday July 28, 2023 your registration cannot be canceled, and you will be responsible for all registration fees.

ACCOMMODATION & LOGISTICS
The main venue of the AEM where most of the meetings will be held is Hotel Padma Semarang. However, due to limited capacity, we suggest members to stay at Hotel Tentrem Semarang. The Council has secured a corporate rate for Mission participants and will share the reservation form to registered participants.

Mission participants should plan to arrive in Semarang by the evening of August 19 or morning of August 20. The Mission will start with a Pre-Mission Briefing on the afternoon of Sunday, August 20 at Hotel Tentrem Semarang.

Participants are responsible for their individual travel arrangements and proof of vaccination according to COVID-19 travel guidelines issued by the Government of Indonesia. More information regarding Indonesia's health protocols can be found here.