Asia Pacific Council of AmChams of Asia Pacific appoints Sri Lanka as Vice Chair

AmCham Head of Secretariat Vrai Raymond

The AmCham Sri Lanka (AmCham SL) represented by its Head of Secretariat Vrai Raymond, was appointed as a Vice Chair of the Asia Pacific Council of the AmChams of Asia Pacific (AAP) with effect from 7 June. 

AmCham Sri Lanka is also co-chair of the Budget Committee of the AAP, and served on its Constitutional Committee responsible for the development of its Articles of Association leading it registration as an entity on Guam. 

Raymond, who has been at the helm of the AmCham Sri Lanka Secretariat since December 2019, is a Strategic Communication and Compliance Specialist, and has led AmCham Sri Lanka in its evolution as a knowledge and resource hub over the past two years proactively pivoting its physical dependent business model by digitalising its member service offering to become one, if not the only business Chamber in the country to galvanise into action at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020, and provide members with enhanced and uninterrupted services of timely and accurate news, information, resources and advocacy assistance on issues immediately impactful to their business continuity. 

The AmChams of Asia Pacific (AAP) formerly known as APCAC is an umbrella organisation of 28 American Chambers of Commerce that promote trade and investment between the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Founded in 1968, the AAP represents the shared interests of US and international businesses that employ millions of people across the region and includes some of the world’s biggest manufacturing and trading entities. 

The AAP annually conducts two main business events of significance in the Asia Pacific region; namely The Washington Door knock where each summer, they facilitate a group of members to Washington to meet top US government officials to engage in a dialog on issues affecting US trade and commerce in the Asia-Pacific area, The AAP Business Summit which focuses is on building connections and strengthen partnerships with global C-suite leaders, senior management from the regional AmChams, diplomats and government officials, partners of AmCham, including NGOs, think tanks, and trade associations, and international media. This event also incorporates the Amcham Represent Awards which celebrate the excellence of business leaders on a global level. 

The AAP highlights that, ‘This is a critical time for US engagement in Asia, as well as a period requiring vigilance on US policies affecting overseas Americans and business operations, including trade policy, tax policy, and more. Representing US business on the front lines, our collective voice serves as a powerful testimony to the importance of an active policy to advance the competitiveness for American business across the whole of Asia-Pacific.’