Assistant Secretary Jose Fernandez Travels to Southeast Asia

Assistant Secretary Jose W. Fernandez will travel to Southeast Asia from February 21 to March 1 to discuss further strengthening U.S. economic relations in the region and enhancing economic and commercial opportunities for mutual benefit.

The Assistant Secretary will be in the Philippines on February 21 - 23 where he will meet with Philippine Government officials and private sector representatives to discuss a range of economic issues including trade, agricultural biotechnology, and corporate social responsibility. He also will speak to business students about how fostering successful entrepreneurs can bolster economic growth and job creation.

He will then travel to Burma on February 23 - 27, to meet with government officials about ways to enhance economic ties. He will deliver the keynote address at a business symposium jointly hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, speaking about the great potential for regional integration in Asia.

The Assistant Secretary will go to Thailand on February 27, where he will meet with government officials and business representatives to discuss mutual commercial and trade priorities. While there he will speak to the American Chamber of Commerce on our economic engagement with Asia.

Assistant Secretary Fernandez will be in Singapore on February 28 - March 1 to meet with government officials and representatives from academia, civil society, and U.S. and Singaporean businesses to discuss topics ranging from trade and investment to infrastructure. He will also deliver remarks on U.S. economic engagement in the Asia-Pacific at an event hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce and Temasek Foundation Centre for Trade & Negotiations.

For updates, follow Assistant Secretary Fernandez on Facebook and Twitter @EconEngage.

Secretary of State John Kerry's Travel to Europe and the Middle East

From February 24 to March 6, Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

The Secretary will travel first to London, the United Kingdom, where he will meet with senior British officials to discuss the range of bilateral and global issues on which we are closely coordinating.

He will then visit Berlin, Germany, where he will hold bilateral meetings on issues of mutual interest, as well as make a number of public appearances, including an exchange of views with German young people on the state of European-American relations. His visit to Berlin will also be an opportunity to reconnect with the city in which he lived as a child.

Secretary Kerry will then travel to Paris, France, with senior French officials to discuss our ongoing cooperation as part of the international effort to support Mali, as well as other issues of regional and global importance.

In Rome, Italy, he will meet with senior Italian Government officials and participate in a number of bilateral and multilateral meetings with our European allies to review the wider trans-Atlantic relationship and to discuss issues of global concern. While in Rome, Secretary Kerry will participate in multilateral meetings on Syria, and with the leadership of the Syrian Opposition Coalition.

Secretary Kerry will then travel to Ankara, Turkey, where he will meet with Turkish officials to discuss our strategic priorities – from ending the crisis in Syria to promoting regional stability, peace, and security – as well as explore areas to deepen U.S.-Turkey bilateral cooperation, including counterterrorism cooperation.

In Cairo, Egypt, Secretary Kerry will meet with senior Egyptian officials, other political leaders, civil society leaders, and the business community to encourage greater political consensus and moving forward on economic reforms. While in Cairo, the Secretary will also meet with Arab League Secretary General Al-Araby to consult on our many shared challenges across the region.

The Secretary will then travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to meet with the Saudi leadership and discuss our cooperation on a broad range of shared concerns. He will also participate in a ministerial meeting with counterparts from Gulf Cooperation Council nations. He will then visit Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to meet with senior officials and discuss our continued close coordination on issues of mutual interest.

The Secretary will conclude his trip in Doha, Qatar, where he will meet with Qatari leadership to discuss shared bilateral and regional issues of concern such as the ongoing crisis in Syria, Afghanistan, and Middle East peace.