United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk, will spend two days, August 30 and 31, in Siem Reap attending the 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ meeting and the ASEAN-US Business Summit.

He is also scheduled to meet separately with Cambodian leaders and other participating ministers to discuss bilateral trade issues and objectives for regional partnerships, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, according to the statement from the US Embassy in Phnom Penh.

Ambassador Kirk’s visit to Cambodia is to demonstrate the United States’ support for ASEAN integration and desire to deepen economic engagement with the region, and to highlight broader US goals for economic relations in the Asia Pacific region.

The statement said he will attend a meeting of the ASEAN-US Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA) Council, an informal meeting of the East Asia Summit Economic Ministers, and the first ever ASEAN-US Business Summit.

The ASEAN-US Business Summit provides an opportunity for business representatives from the United States and ASEAN to exchange views on promoting economic growth and innovative, and to convey their shared recommendations in direct dialogue with the ASEAN trade ministers.

The American-Cambodian Business Council has also invited all interested business people to attend the Thursday August 30 summit that will be hosted at Le Meridien Angkor. Registration for the event has closed.

The event is organised by USAID, the United States Trade Representative, and the United States Mission to ASEAN, in partnership with the US-ASEAN Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce.

To contact the reporter on this story: Meas Sokchea at [email protected]