In step with the changing global marketplace and new opportunities for American business, USCIB’s Economies in Transition Committee recently elected to rename itself – it will henceforth be known as the Emerging Markets Committee – and to expand its purview.
Established in the early 1990s, as new markets were opening up in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the EIT Committee supported the interests of U.S. business and promoted U.S. investment in the region. It served as a conduit for participation in BIAC and OECD outreach, and engaged governments and business groups in the formerly centrally planned economies on such things as EU membership, WTO accession, bilateral investment treaties and legal reforms.
The countries of the region have grown – and a number of them have joined the EU – thereby becoming much less “transitional.” At the same time, dynamic emerging economies in other regions, in particular India and Brazil, came to be increasingly overlooked in the existing USCIB committee structure. So the committee is refocusing its work to fill this gap.
The Emerging Markets Committee will begin to focus on Brazil and India, while continuing its strong support of and involvement in BIAC’s non-member task forces. These task forces have ongoing work with Russia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and Africa. The committee will also serve as a source of regional expertise for other USCIB committees, for example with Intellectual Property or Biotechnology to address some of the challenges on these fronts coming out of the WTO’s recent Hong Kong ministerial. For more information or to join the new committee, contact Alix Heywood (212-703-5090 or aheywood@uscib.org).
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Update on Avian Flu – Having raised warnings early last year in briefings for our Executive Committee, USCIB continues to monitor the spread of Avian Influenza and the response by businesses, governments and international bodies. While disaster response and continuity planning are not part of USCIB’s core policy work, a possible pandemic threatens our members as businesses, employers and members of communities. Some members have provided input to governments through USCIB. Our public website offers background information and useful links. Several members are participating in a Singapore-based workshop on January 20, organized by USCIB’s colleagues at the APEC Business Advisory Council. And at its January 30 meeting, USCIB’s new Chambers of Commerce Committee will examine the issue of disaster preparedness, including possible federal and state responses to an outbreak of Avian flu affecting the U.S. The USCIB website also provides a secure facility for members to share aspects of their pandemic preparedness planning. For more information or to join USCIB’s contact list on Avian influenza, contact Alix Heywood (212-703-5090 or aheywood@uscib.org).
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