Francisco Sánchez, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, will be the senior Obama administration official and chairman for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Ministerial at the Big Sky Resort in Big Sky, Montana. Sánchez will be in Big Sky, May 19-21.
Under Secretary Sánchez will lead APEC SME ministers in discussions regarding embracing business ethics to enhance SMEs’ competitiveness; promoting SMEs’ use of new technologies to reduce the costs of doing business; and identifying policies to support green SMEs. He will lead the SME Minister’s press conference immediately following the ministerial on May 21.
He will also participate in the historic joint dialogue between the APEC Trade and SME Ministers, which will result in a commitment by APEC and its member economies to resolve the top barriers SMEs face in trading in the Asia-Pacific region.
The United States is the APEC 2011 host. President Obama’s stated goal for APEC 2011 is to help build a seamless regional economy in the Asia-Pacific. APEC is the pre-eminent regional organization to strengthen economic integration and expand trade, growth, and employment in the Asia-Pacific region.
The APEC SME Ministerial and Related Meetings will be Thursday, May 19-Saturday, May 21, 2011
