Dilawar Syed, the State Department’s special representative for commercial and business affairs, speaks with foreign correspondents in Washington DC on the department’s work around the world. Excerpts:
Trip to India
I visited India in July of this year and I was in Chennai actually. Look, India is our key trading partner. It’s one of our most robust and strong relationships economically and commercially. We are proud of that. Obviously, many U.S. companies, as you know very well, are operating in India making massive impact in virtually every sector.
As we have done with other countries, we have continued to push for a more friendly environment for investment from U.S. companies, a more level playing field for our companies to compete and win. We know it’s a more competitive world for our U.S. companies, so we are always advocating, whether it’s protection of IP, whether it’s the ability to repatriate profits back to the United States, whether it’s things on R&D where we can collaborate more when it comes to local universities. There’s a breadth of topics that we have discussed with our counterparts in India. We are pleased we are making progress, but the most important thing is it is a key partner for us and we are investing a lot, obviously, our resources and engagement. Next year India is hosting the G20; it will also be an incredible opportunity for us to have more expanded conversations and deepening our economic relationship with India.
Relationship with Eastern Europe
In terms of U.S. role or engagement with Eastern Europe and Central Asia, let me say this. The reality is Putin’s war in Ukraine and aggression has disrupted our energy supply, has had a really difficult impact on food security. We are engaged with our partners both in Central Asia and in Eastern Europe to make sure that we can help develop more energy security in the region. We obviously – as you’re aware of the grain deal that was struck to help get more of Ukraine grain out of the region, is going to help the region both Central Europe – sorry, Eastern Europe and Central Asia as well as around the world.
So because of what has happened in case of Ukraine, we are actually very focused on ensuring that our partners – whether it’s Azerbaijan or Eastern Europe – are secure, especially in the areas of energy and food security, given the very heavy impact that Russia’s war on Ukraine has had on these countries.
In terms of the role of U.S. companies post-construction – sorry, post-war, and our office and my role, actually we’re playing a very proactive role. Just this week, I met with a number of U.S. companies in a breadth of sectors, as well as Ukrainian companies who we hosted here in the U.S., to talk about how can they help when it comes to post-war reconstruction. We know it will be a long, long, and sustained effort. Unfortunately, we are – the conditions are not on the ground conducive enough for us to be very active yet. But we can always start planning and making sure that we’re convening the best of private sector both from the United States, our allies, as well as the amazing entrepreneurs, innovators from Ukraine.
So we are having this conversation. What – the role of my office is to be able to engage with the U.S. private sector and make sure they have a seat at the table, make sure they can assess the needs of Ukraine, which will be pretty significant – whether it’s energy, whether it’s rebuilding of their infrastructure. Also an opportunity for us to reform, if you will, given some of the concerns we had in the pre-war Ukraine. So this will be a very active portfolio for our bureau, Economic Bureau, and for our office, the Office of Commercial and Business Affairs.
Disinformation and the world
Disinformation, misinformation is a issue that’s affecting everyone in the world. It affects democracy; it affects economic growth; it affects everyday lives. And especially in the pandemic we saw it affected access to accurate information, for instance public health. So it’s something that we take very, very seriously.
We have a new office, a new bureau at the State Department which is focused on cyber, cyber issues, digital policy, misinformation, disinformation. It’s called CDP. So it’s a very dedicated focus. Obviously, we work with them very closely. And again, private sector can be a force for good as well when it comes to that. We would encourage innovation in this regard to make sure that we can help level up facts and fight disinformation, since it affects economies and societies all over the world. And with the more digital our experiences are in communities around the world, the more critical the importance of accurate and timely information is.
Celebrating businesses
We believe that our U.S. private sector is a key actor globally to help us push for more positive change. And it’s wonderful to see so many U.S. companies nominated this year. We want to be able to double on this. We want to grow this, if you will, even more next year. And we appreciate everyone’s interest, and looking forward to an exciting ceremony tomorrow at the State Department.
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