The Opportunities Ahead: A Fireside Chat with USABC Board of Directors Chairman Craig Smith and Council President & CEO Amb. Ted Osius

Please join the US-ASEAN Business Council’s Board of Directors Chairman, Craig Smith, and the Council's new President & CEO Amb. Ted Osius for a conversation about the opportunities ahead in Southeast Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific, regional and global geopolitical challenges to consider, and how the Council will continue to play an integral role moving forward. There will also be time for Q&A.

Former ambassador Ted Osius is President & CEO of the US-ASEAN Business Council. A diplomat for thirty years, Amb. Osius served from 2014 to 2017 as U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam. Leading a team of 900, Amb. Osius devised and implemented strategies to deepen economic, security and cultural ties between the two countries.  In October 2021, Rutgers University Press will publish his book, Nothing Is Impossible: America’s Reconciliation with Vietnam, covering the two countries’ 25-year journey from adversaries to friends and partners.

After his departure from government, Amb. Osius joined Google Asia-Pacific as Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy, covering 19 Asian nations from Google’s Singapore headquarters. Earlier, he was a senior advisor at the Albright-Stonebridge Group and the first Vice President of Fulbright University Vietnam. Amb. Osius was Associate Professor at the National War College and Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

As a diplomat, Amb. Osius served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Political Minister-Counselor in New Delhi, India. Amb. Osius also served as deputy director of the Office of Korean Affairs at the State Department, regional environment officer for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and senior advisor on Asia and trade to Vice President Al Gore. He also served in Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, and at the United Nations.

Amb. Osius has authored numerous articles on Foreign Service tradecraft and U.S.-Asia policy.  He wrote The U.S.-Japan Security Alliance: Why It Matters and How To Strengthen It (CSIS/Praeger 2002) as a fellow at the Japan Institute for International Affairs (日本国際問題研究所).  While at CSIS, he published “Global Swing States: Deepening Partnerships with India and Indonesia” (Asia Policy, January 2014), Enhancing India-ASEAN Connectivity and A US-Indonesia Partnership for 2020.

Amb. Osius earned a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and an Honorary Doctorate from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education. He was the first U.S. ambassador to receive the Order of Friendship from the President of Vietnam.  He serves on the Asia Foundation’s Board of Trustees and numerous advisory boards.

Amb. Osius speaks Vietnamese, French and Italian, and a bit of Japanese, Indonesian, Hindi, Thai, Tagalog and Greek.  He and his husband, Clayton Bond, have a seven-year-old son and six-year-old daughter.
 
Craig S. Smith is Group President, International Division for Marriott International, Inc. He oversees global operations and development for the International Division of one of the world’s largest hospitality companies with responsibility for 2,300 hotels spanning more than 130 countries and territories in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.
 
Mr. Smith began his multiple-decade Marriott career in the housekeeping department and went on to become a five-time hotel General Manager. This on-property experience continues to impact and inform his approach to managing a workforce comprised of hundreds of thousands of associates serving guests around the world across 30 iconic brands, including JW Marriott, Renaissance, the Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Sheraton, W, Westin and more.
 
Prior to his current position, he served as Group President and Chief Operating Officer for the fast-growing Asia Pacific market and President of the Caribbean and Latin American region.
 
The son of an American diplomat and father of five, Craig has lived in 13 countries and has a deep appreciation for cultural differences across generations and geographies. He is fluent in Spanish, conversant in Portuguese and known for his greetings in dozens of different languages.
 
A strong advocate for the industry, Mr. Smith is a frequent contributor to G20 public-private sector travel and tourism initiatives. He is Chairman of the board of the US-ASEAN Business Council and is a sought-after speaker and media source on the state of global travel and tourism and its geopolitical and economic impact.
 
Craig is a graduate of Brigham Young University and holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He has multiple executive business degrees from institutions including the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland and is a Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program alumnus.