Remarks at American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (Amcham) Monthly Luncheon, JW Marriott Hotel - December 16, 2008
Thank you Tom for that introduction and thank you for your past year of service to the American business community in Thailand. It’s been a remarkable year for Amcham as you joined with the Embassy on numerous occasions to commemorate the 175th anniversary of U.S.-Thai relations. Since arriving in Thailand, I have been impressed with the professionalism and energy of Amcham. It seems Tom White was able to be at two places at the same time, at every Amcham event large or small he was there. Your leadership set the tone for an engaged and energetic American business community that greatly contributed to our overall bilateral relationship. We all understand you have to get back to your day job but I do want to thank you and last year’s Board of Governors for your extraordinary leadership over the past twelve months.
I would also like to congratulate David Carden and the incoming board on your election. I look forward to working with you in the coming months as we face a challenging commercial environment here in Thailand and indeed around the world.
Before we talk about the challenges and opportunities that face us I think it’s important to take stock of the important work we undertook together over the last year. When I arrived last January and addressed this group I told you then I wanted to be engaged with AMCHAM and the business community and I have not been disappointed.
As my wife, Sophia, and I have I’ve traveled throughout Thailand, we have been fortunate to have AMCHAM members travel with us, most recently with Coca-Cola’s Jorge Garduno in Khon Kaen. We have also had joint activities in Rayong, Phitsonlok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and I look forward to continuing these joint trips to highlight U.S. Commercial activity in Thailand.
On all of these trips we make a special point to highlight U.S. Corporate Social Responsibility in Thailand. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate Coca-Cola on winning this year’s AMCHAM CSR award. I am sorry I missed the ceremony, but I was at the actual site of their innovative water conservation project outside of Khon Kaen the day the ceremony was held. Let me tell you, there is no substitute for traveling to the communities that benefit from your CSR projects and seeing the gratitude on the faces of the villagers who now have clean water.
Along those lines, I have been fortunate to be able to dedicate playgrounds, e-learning centers and libraries at schools around Thailand as part of AMCHAM’s adopt-a-school program. Because of your generosity children around Thailand, the future of Thailand, have a chance for a better education and a chance to improve their lives. Sophia has worked with the Amcham Professional Women’s Committee and Embassy staff to find ways we can help combat human trafficking.
Recognizing the importance of CSR, we at the embassy commissioned a video to highlight American CSR in Thailand this year which you can see on the embassy’s website. We are using this video to get the word out to the Thai community and to Thai decision makers that our companies are good corporate citizens and that American investment brings more than just jobs and tax revenue.
One last point about CSR, a few months ago Dow Chemical planned a coastal clean-up in Rayong province and asked the embassy if we wanted to participate. Commercial Counselor Cynthia Griffin-Greene organized a group of over 70 embassy volunteers to pitch in and assist in the clean-up. When you conduct your CSR projects, think about reaching out to us, we can assist in providing volunteers, publicity and fundraising. The entire embassy community is energetic about supporting your CSR projects; work with Cynthia and her team in the Commercial Section to plug us into your events.
Looking back over the past year, we have had a lot of fun together at the 4th of July picnic, meet the embassy night, the embassy election watch party, the installation ball, the USA Fair, American cultural events at the residence and a golf tournament or two.
We also achieved market access successes for a number of AMCHAM companies, playing a key role in resolving investment and business disputes for companies large and small. In addition we were able to resolve a significant multilateral customs valuation case working with AMCHAM members. Our commercial and economic team at the embassy is here to assist in resolving your market access concerns and I encourage you to continue to work with them in the coming year.
Our engagement with the Thai government and the multiple ministers that have held the business related positions over the past year has been somewhat productive on one hand, but incredibly frustrating on the other, given the level of turnover at key ministries. We have met with multiple Foreign Affairs, Finance, Commerce and Industry ministers this year to advocate on behalf of U.S. companies. I’ve been here less than twelve months, and have worked with four Prime Ministers, two Acting Prime Ministers, six Foreign Ministers, and two Acting Foreign Ministers. We hope to continue these Ministerial meetings in the coming year, hopefully with fewer introductory and more substantive dialogues.
We at the embassy have had a busy year with official visitors, of course the biggest being the successful visit of President Bush to Thailand to celebrate 175 years of U.S.-Thai relations. We were glad that we were able to include AMCHAM members in the audience for the President’s final Asia Policy speech.
We also hosted senior U.S. officials from the departments of State, Commerce, Agriculture, Defense, and Justice, as well as the Senate and House and we always try to include Amcham members in our visitors’ schedules as it is critical that our leaders hear directly from the source about what’s going on with the current business climate in Thailand.
Looking towards the next twelve months, we certainly see an economic slowdown here in Thailand amid the global financial, and the domestic political, crisis. As we move into the uncharted waters of the global financial recovery, AMCHAM will have an important role in acting as a counterbalance to those who would have us retreat behind protectionist walls. The impulse to protect domestic industry is not unique to one country and the business sector will have to worker harder than ever to clearly put forward the merits of free and open trade wherever you operate.
As we prepare for a new administration to take over in Washington, it is clear the Obama team will face unprecedented challenges both at home with the economy and overseas with two wars, the ongoing terrorist threat and a multitude of other pressing challenges. We in Bangkok can be proud that President-elect Obama has picked ISB alum Timothy Geithner to head the Treasury Department at this critical time. In addition, we will have strong leadership at the Department of State with Hillary Clinton, the Department of Commerce with Bill Richardson and across the cabinet as the President-elect is naming high profile experienced leaders to his international and economic team.
As we reflect on the current situation in Thailand, we see the situation has not improved from last year in any meaningful way. The closure of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueng Airports is and was an unacceptable act and will tarnish the reputation of Thailand for years to come. I, along with other like-minded Ambassadors, am working with the Thai government to ensure that steps are taken to ensure that the safety and security of international passenger and cargo transportation is maintained.
During this time of global economic downturn, Thailand cannot afford to make itself less competitive than the rest of Southeast Asia. Political instability and acts such as the closure of both airports in Bangkok do not bode well for the Thai economy in this global climate.
Moving forward with the new Thai government, we will continue to fight for a level playing field for U.S. firms operating in Thailand. We will build on our successes and continue to engage on areas that remain a challenge.
Once a new Thai government is in place, we will immediately engage with them on issues that are key to your businesses. After the 2006 coup, government ministers reassured the foreign business and diplomatic community that it would be "business as usual" in Thailand. In these challenging times, business as usual is not good enough. For many of you, in fact, that might be a petrifying notion. We will push the next Thai government to make business better than usual.
In order to reassure international business, Thai leaders must bring transparency to government decision-making processes. They must better protect both Thai and foreign intellectual property. We will push for better internal coordination within the Thai Government, so that individual ministries do not unilaterally make decisions that fail to take full account of all Thailand's interests. Making these improvements will not be simple or easy, but I am committed to do what we can to help move things in the right direction.
Despite the difficulties that have beset Thailand in the past few years, the United States and Thailand continue to share strong bonds of friendship. The presence of so many U.S. companies, as represented by most of you here today, is another fundamental element of our links to Thailand. U.S. investment is continuing to create jobs for Thais and improving lives. It’s well known that employment in foreign-owned enterprises is generally higher paying than for domestic firms, and your companies are contributing to higher standards of living. When it comes to labor rights, you lead by example in showing respect for your employees at all levels. But this investment doesn’t just create jobs; it passes along modern management methods and ways of doing business. The Thai-U.S. commercial relationship has weathered storms in the past and it will weather this one as well.
Fundamental in our alliance has been the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, signed first in 1833 and now celebrating its 175th year, as you may have heard once or twice in the past year. We have had a great time highlighting the anniversary throughout the year and again thank AMCHAM for your support in the celebrations.
In the past year I have attended promotional events on behalf of 3M, Delphi, Hanes, Koehler and General Motors to name a few. I look forward to continuing to work with you to promote your products and services in Thailand and hope that you will work with our FCS office to take advantage of U.S. Embassy promotional activities whenever possible.
I committed to you last year that the embassy is your partner and I wanted to increase our cooperation with AMCHAM. I know many of you already work with our team at the Embassy, especially with the Foreign Commercial Service, but I remind you that all elements of your embassy such as the Foreign Agricultural Service, the Regional Security Office, the Economic, Consular, and Public Affairs Sections, AID, and Dept. of Homeland Security are here to work with you. We have held three Amcham quarterly coffees at the residence with over 250 participants this year where we have given you the Embassy’s take on the political, economic and security situation here in Thailand, and we look forward to continuing these briefings in the new year. I’m committed to continuing our extensive cooperation and I am open to suggestions on how we can enhance our interaction.
In closing I want to stress that despite the current considerable difficulties in Thailand both domestic and global, the United States has no better friend in the region. We will continue to stand with our ally of 175 years and we will continue to work to increase contacts between our two peoples, increase cultural and educational exchanges, strengthen military ties and work with you-- the American business community in Thailand-- to increase commercial opportunities for both Thai and U.S. companies.
Thank you.