APEC Business Advisory Council to Meet February 15-17 in Scottsdale, Arizona
The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), the private sector arm of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC), will hold its first meeting of 2001 in Scottsdale, Arizona, February 15-17. ABAC will launch its work for the year under the theme: "Promoting Common Development through Capacity Building and Full Participation."
This will be the first ABAC meeting of APEC's China Year, when China will host the meeting of APEC Economic Leaders in Shanghai in October. In Scottsdale, ABAC members will have the opportunity to meet top leaders of government and business in the U.S. In conjunction with the ABAC meeting, the U.S. APEC Business Forum will be held on February 14. The Forum will feature a range of top corporate executives as well as include ABAC Members both as speakers and as participants.
ABAC comprises up to three senior business representatives from each of APEC's 21 member economies appointed by their respective heads of economy to advise APEC Economic Leaders and Ministers on issues affecting business. The Council is chaired this year by Mr. Qin Xiao, Vice Chairman - China International Trust and Investment Corporation. The Scottsdale meeting will lay out the agenda for ABAC's work program for the year and finalize the year's priorities. At this meeting, ABAC will be signing a joint statement of cooperation with GBDe (the Global Business Dialogue on e-Commerce) to work jointly on initiatives to promote e-commerce readiness."
As in past years, ABAC's work will culminate in a report containing recommendations on ways to improve business and investment in the APEC region and to help ensure that all in the region enjoy the benefits of globalization. ABAC's recommendations will be presented to APEC Economic Leaders by ABAC members when they meet in Shanghai, October 20-21.
Press Arrangements and Contacts
Mr. Qin and the Taskforce and Committee Chairs and co-Chairs will hold a press conference to report on the outcomes of the meeting at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, February 17 in Salon D and E of the Princess Conference Center at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, located at 7575 East Princess Drive, Scottsdale, Arizona (Tel: 480-585-4848; Fax: 480-585-0086). Representatives from print and electronic media outlets are invited to attend. In addition, television cameras will be allowed to film the opening moments of the first ABAC plenary session at 09:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 15 in the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess.
Requests for interviews with inpidual ABAC members may be directed to the contacts on page 2 below.
ABAC's 1999 Report to APEC Leaders is available on the ABAC and APEC websites: http://abaconline.org and http://www.apecsec.org.sg.
Additional background information about ABAC is already available at that site. To order a bound volume of the ABAC Report, contact Mr. Luz as indicated below.