USG Appoints New Members to APEC Business Advisory Council

APEC Economic Leaders created the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) in 1995 as a permanent, institutional mechanism to provide private sector input to APEC working-level government and senior officials. Up to three senior business representatives from each of the 21 APEC economies are appointed by their respective leaders to serve on ABAC and attend quarterly meetings to address some of the most critical issues affecting businesses in the region – from climate change and sustainability, supply chain resilience, and fiscal policy to greater economic inclusion of women and micro-small-and-medium enterprises, and regional economic integration.

Currently, ABAC USA is represented by Dominic Ng, Chairman and CEO of East West Bank, and Laura Lane, Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at UPS. The third member has not been named. Mr. Ng will serve as the ABAC Chair during the U.S. host year in 2023.

New U.S. APEC Business Advisory Council Member Appointment: Dominic Ng – U.S. State Department

The United States welcomes the appointment of Dominic Ng, Chairman and CEO of East West Bank, to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

Mr. Ng and his ABAC counterparts from the other APEC economies will advise APEC Leaders on issues affecting the continued growth of the region’s economy. In this role, Mr. Ng will provide recommendations reflecting the perspective of U.S. stakeholders. ABAC, created in 1995, consists of up to three business representatives from each APEC economy and is a key component of APEC’s multi-stakeholder approach to trade and economic policies. ABAC meets throughout the year to discuss policy recommendations, undertakes activities to promote trade and investment as well as sustainable and inclusive growth, and reports annually to APEC Leaders.

Mr. Ng leads East West Bank, the largest publicly-listed independent bank headquartered in Southern California. Since joining the Bank in 1991, Mr. Ng transformed East West from a small savings and loan association with $600 million in assets into a global full-service commercial bank with assets over $62 billion today. Its 3,200 employees serve more than 600,000 customers worldwide. Bank Director ranked East West Bank No.1 Performing Bank in 2021 and top bank with the Best Board in 2022. Mr. Ng serves on the governing boards of Mattel, Inc., the University of Southern California, and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a board member of the 21st Century China Center of the University of California, San Diego. He is a former Chairman of the Committee of 100. Mr. Ng’s previous board service also includes the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Los Angeles Branch; PacifiCare Health Systems; Asia Society; and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.

Among the extensive recognitions for his business achievements and philanthropic impact, Mr. Ng was named one of Forbes’ 25 most notable Chinese Americans; one of Los Angeles Times’100 most influential people in Los Angeles; and Business Person of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal. American Banker recognized Mr. Ng as Banker of the Year for successfully executing his vision while maintaining credit discipline and building East West into one of the nation’s most profitable regional banks.
For more than 30 years, APEC has served as the premier economic platform for the United States to engage our regional partners on structural issues to advance an economic and trade architecture that opens markets, promotes high standards, and promotes sustainable and inclusive growth.

New U.S. APEC Business Advisory Council Member Appointment: Laura Lane – U.S. State Department

The United States welcomes the appointment of Laura Lane, Executive Vice President (EVP) and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at the United Parcel Service (UPS), to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

Ms. Lane and her ABAC counterparts from the other APEC economies will advise APEC Leaders on issues affecting the continued growth of the region’s economy. In this role, Ms. Lane will provide recommendations reflecting the perspective of U.S. stakeholders. ABAC, created in 1995, consists of up to three business representatives from each APEC economy and is a key component of APEC’s multi-stakeholder approach to trade and economic policies. ABAC meets throughout the year to discuss policy recommendations, undertakes activities to promote trade and investment, as well as sustainable and inclusive growth, and reports annually to APEC Leaders.

In her role as EVP and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and a critical member of UPS’s Executive Leadership Team, Ms. Lane oversees the company’s Public Policy and Government Affairs, Communications, Sustainability, Community Relations Division, as well as The UPS Foundation. Ms. Lane has served in both the U.S. private and public sectors, with extensive experience in government, financial services, media and information-communications, and logistics, enabling her to represent the broad range of interests of U.S. businesses, including small-and women-owned businesses.

Prior to joining UPS, Ms. Lane served as Managing Director and Head of International Government Affairs at Citigroup and Vice President for Global Public Policy at Time Warner. In her government career, Ms. Lane served as a trade negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and as a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service. Ms. Lane currently serves as a member of the board of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees USA (UNHCR-USA) and the CDC Foundation, in addition to several other U.S. business associations and nonprofits, including the Atlantic Council, The Woodruff Arts Center, and the German-American Business Council.

For more than 30 years APEC has served as the premier economic platform for the United States to engage our regional partners on structural issues to advance an economic and trade architecture that opens markets, promotes high standards, and promotes sustainable and inclusive growth.

New U.S. APEC Business Advisory Council Member Appointment: Ginger Lew – U.S. State Department

The United States welcomes the appointment of Ginger Lew, CEO, Three Oaks Investments LLC, to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

Ms. Lew and her ABAC counterparts from the other APEC economies will advise APEC Leaders on issues affecting the continued growth of the region’s economy. In this role, Ms. Lew will provide recommendations reflecting the perspective of U.S. stakeholders. ABAC, created in 1995, consists of up to three business representatives from each APEC economy and is a key component of APEC’s multi-stakeholder approach to trade and economic policies. ABAC meets throughout the year to discuss policy recommendations, undertakes activities to promote trade and investment, as well as sustainable and inclusive growth, and reports annually to APEC Leaders.

Ms. Lew is a senior policy advisor to I Squared Capital, a $34 billion global infrastructure fund based in Miami, Florida. Ms. Lew is also an entrepreneur and was one of the co-founders and Managing Director of Cube Hydro Partners, a U.S. clean energy company based in Bethesda, Maryland. She guided the company through an expansive acquisition period and led critical regulatory and financial negotiations throughout the life cycle of the company. In October 2019, Cube Hydro was sold to Eagle Creek Renewable Energy.  She is currently CEO of Three Oaks Investments, which provides consulting services to U.S. and international companies.

Previously, Ms. Lew held a number of roles in the United States government, including most recently as the White House National Economic Council Senior Counselor, where she led work on small business, financial and procurement reform policies, innovation, and commercialization policies. Ms. Lew has also served as Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer at the U.S. Small Business Administration, General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Ms. Lew has also served on numerous corporate and not for profit boards including the Meyer Foundation, the Smithsonian Institute, Asian Americans for Advancing Justice, and the East West Center. Ms. Lew served on the NASDAQ Listing and Hearing Review Council for ten years as a member and Co-Chair. She is the Co-Founder of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers, a trade organization that promotes diversity and inclusion in the investment industry.

For more than 30 years, APEC has served as the premier economic platform for the United States to engage our regional partners on structural issues to advance an economic and trade architecture that opens markets, promotes high standards, and promotes sustainable and inclusive growth.