CSIS Launches Transpacific Partnership Speakers Series

WASHINGTON, January 3, 2012— The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) today announced the launching of high-level speaker series on the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations.  The initiative seeks to put the TPP and trade in the larger foreign policy and national security context as the United States “rebalances” toward Asia. 

CSIS will launch the series with an on the record program featuring Mr. Michael Froman, deputy national security advisor and the White House’s lead coordinator on economic and trade issues. CSIS’ president and CEO John Hamre, will kick off the series and introduce Mr. Froman.  Former United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab and the State Department’s senior advisor for economic affairs, Matthew Goodman, will lead a panel discussion following the keynote address.

CSIS’ TPP launch event will be held at CSIS on Wednesday, January 4, 2012, in room B1 and is open to pre-registered guests and the media. The event will be streamed live on the internet at http://csis.org/event/trans-pacific-partnership-speaker-series.   Please RSVP to aschwartz@csis.org.

WHEN/WHERE:     

January 4, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
B1 Conference Center
CSIS 1800 K. St. NW, Washington, DC 20006

The TPP is an ongoing trade negotiation involving the United States and eight other nations from around the Asia Pacific including Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.  The agreement would serve as the highest-level trade agreement linking United States and countries across the Pacific and would bolster U.S. exports and economic growth as well as its foreign policy and national security in Asia. 
The initiative will be led by Meredith Broadbent, the Scholl Chair for Economics and Trade, and Ernie Bower, senior adviser and director of the Southeast Asia program, at CSIS.   The initiative is supported by Google, HP, IBM, Pfizer, and Procter & Gamble.  The TPP Speaker Series website will include copies of speeches, experts’ profiles, commentaries, and regular updates on the negotiations and related issues. 

CSIS’ President & CEO John Hamre emphasized the timeliness of the initiative: “CSIS recognized the urgent need to convene the best and brightest to understand and highlight the important role of trade and economic engagement in enduring U.S. strategy in the Asia Pacific region.  The TPP is our only current trade negotiation in this important region. Our goal is to ensure the broad spectrum of our policy constituency understands the agreement and what’s at stake for our country.”

For more information on the CSIS TPP Speaker Series, please contact Andrew Schwartz at aschwartz@csis.org, or Ryan Sickles at rsickles@csis.org.

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The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, non-profit organization that seeks to advance global security and prosperity by providing strategic insights and practical policy solutions to decision-makers.

H. Andrew Schwartz
CSIS
www.csis.org