APEC San Fran

Next week, San Francisco will host APEC USA 2011 at the Hyatt Regency and Westin Hotels for the first time since 1993.  Meetings have already taken place in Washington, DC and Big Sky, Montana, culminating in Honolulu in November.  I am fortunate to be volunteering for WES - Women and the Economy Summit – all week, with speaker Hillary Clinton addressing delegates on Wednesday, 9/22.  

The Bay Area Council will co-host the largest diplomatic gathering in California since the founding of the United Nations in 1945. At the invitation of the State Department, the Bay Area Council has worked with the White House and executive branch agencies to assemble 150 meetings over two weeks to address some of the most pressing challenges on the planet, including transportation, energy, health, the environment, technology and women empowerment. The conversations and policy-setting negotiations are part of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, founded in 1989. The 21 countries or “economies” that will gather in San Francisco represent approximately 40 percent of the world's population, approximately 54 percent of the global economy and about 44 percent of world trade. There will be approximately 3,000 delegates and 200 registered journalists.

The United States works within APEC to open markets in the Asia-Pacific region and connect them to American exporters. This includes eliminating barriers to trade and investment, creating better business environments, and building a level economic playing field in the region that will help Americans compete and succeed. APEC initiatives also lay the foundation for high-standard, comprehensive trade agreements – including the Trans-Pacific Partnership – that will help the United States strengthen economic ties with the region.

I am looking forward to hearing Tina Brown (Editor In Chief, The Daily Beast and Newsweek) speak, as well as Valarie Jarrett, Sr. Advisor to President Obama.  

So if I am off the radar starting 9/11, no worry.  I am safe at the conference with about 200 secret service suits protecting my every move!