The Office of Commercial and Business Affairs

Special Representative Morgenthau has concluded her tenure with the Office of Commercial and Business Affairs. Please feel free to follow her personal account Sarah E. Morgenthau. This account will remain active with all updates from the Office of Commercial and Business Affairs.

As we near the end of the Biden-Harris Administration and my tenure at the State Department, I wanted to express my profound thanks to our partners for their collaboration. The role of U.S. companies in our foreign policy priorities has never been more critical. The Biden-Harris Administration has understood this, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to commercial diplomacy, and public-private cooperation to strengthen our international partnerships and alliances. Since joining the State Department in October 2023, I have engaged directly with dozens of foreign heads of state and senior officials to expand our economic relationships. Through these meetings, I've advocated for more than $74 billion in commercial advocacy cases, supporting about 313,500 American jobs. The Office of Commercial and Business affairs has continued to lead our Embassy Deal Teams, a collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Commerce. In FY2023 alone, U.S. embassies helped deliver over $355 billion worth of wins for U.S. companies, supporting millions of jobs in the United States and in the foreign countries in which they operate. These are just a few examples of our progress. Over the last four years, we’ve bolstered U.S. competitiveness and deepened the role of American businesses in promoting U.S. national security and shared prosperity with our partners and allies around the world. It has been a true privilege to serve my country and to do so under this historic administration.

The partnership between the U.S. government and private sector is essential to addressing the most pressing global challenges. Ambassador Stuart Holliday and I sat down with Inside U.S. Trade at the Meridian International Center to discuss bolstering U.S. competitiveness abroad and public-private collaboration.

As 2024 draws to a close, I'd like to share a few highlights of the Office of Commercial and Business Affairs' tremendous work over the past year!

Over the past year, I was proud to chair the Meridian Corporate Council Working Groups, which brought together over 50+ major global corporations and partners from key sectors to bolster U.S. competitiveness abroad. Last week, the Groups presented their recommendations for enhancing public-private collaboration in advancing U.S. commercial diplomacy. Many thanks to Ambassador Stuart Holliday and the whole Meridian International Center team for their continued partnership in advancing U.S. companies operating around the world. To read the full report, visit the following link: https://lnkd.in/gEnMGwyw.

The United States has continued to elevate our commercial diplomacy in West Africa and across the continent to further shift our economic relationships from aid to trade. I recently travelled to Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia to promote the United States as the partner of choice and to increase U.S. commercial investment in the region. In Côte d’Ivoire (CDI), I met with the Ministers of Commerce and of Digital Transition and Digitalization to discuss opportunities for U.S. companies to further contribute to CDI’s rapidly expanding digital sector. The Ivoirian government has made strides in transforming the nation’s economy and facilitating growth as “West Africa’s Silicon Valley” and establishing CDI as a regional leader in connectivity and cyber security coordination across West Africa.  Additionally, I met with the American Chamber of Commerce in Côte d’Ivoire to discuss how we can best support U.S. companies operating in the region, improve the business environment, and attract for U.S. investment. An encouraging development was JP Morgan and Citibank’s recent announcement to invest $1 billion in Cote d’Ivoire, each contributing $500 million to support economic growth.      In Liberia, I joined the National Investment Commission for a dinner where we discussed our shared commitment to the US-Liberia bilateral relationship premised on economic development, job creation, and shared prosperity. I also had candid discussions with senior government officials about the improvements needed to encourage further U.S. private sector investment in Liberia. We discussed the potential of a multi-user rail line running through Liberia known as the “Liberty Corridor,” that holds untapped potential to integrate West Africa, improve infrastructure, and enhance key sectors like agriculture, energy, and mining. This follows the successful model of the Lobito Corridor project which has attracted over $4 billion in U.S. investments and will create jobs at home and opportunities in Africa. While in Monrovia, I visited the Ruth Morgenthau Reading Room at the University of Liberia, dedicated to my late mother by her former student Olubanke King Akerele (who became President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Minister of Foreign Affairs). The United States’ people-to-people ties with Liberia are key to the depth and strength of our bilateral relationship. Thank you to Embassy Monrovia and Embassy Abidjan for your incredible work to make this trip such a success.

Our next #DirectLine webinar for U.S. companies will explore and breakdown healthcare business opportunities in Egypt. Join U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Herro Mustafa Garg and the Department of State’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs Amy Holman and featuring Egypt’s Minister for Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan El-Khatib 10 a.m. EST Dec. 12. Please register here: https://lnkd.in/gvGVB4pb Hear about specific trade opportunities in Egypt, a market of 110 million that offers many channels for healthcare suppliers and services providers to partner and do business with private and public hospitals, distributors, and agents as well as opportunities to engage in joint ventures with Egyptian companies. Topics that will be covered include: ·      Egypt’s new national healthcare strategy and how it is opening the market for more U.S. healthcare companies to do business here ·      Best prospects for U.S. exports of healthcare products and services  ·      Regulatory changes on the horizon that will create more competition in the healthcare market ·      The Egyptian government’s vision to improve the operating environment for companies CHPA American Medical Association AHIP

The United States and Papua New Guinea’s relationship is based on shared values and mutual respect, with a long history of defense partnerships, commercial links, and people-to-people ties. Last week, I was proud to lead a delegation of U.S. companies to Papua New Guinea with the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) to expand our bilateral economic cooperation and commercial ties.    We met with senior government officials, including Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape, to discuss emerging opportunities for U.S. companies in Papua New Guinea and highlight the positive impacts these businesses are making in the Pacific Islands and around the globe. We also covered these topics in a roundtable with American Chamber of Commerce Coral Sea, along with discussing ways the U.S. government can continue to support American businesses’ operations in the region. During the trip, I was grateful for the opportunity to meet with women business leaders who received MiBank microloans backed by U.S. financing. Through the work of USAID and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, more than 300 entrepreneurs have been supported through our $5 million investment guarantee to MiBank.  Our delegation followed the first ever U.S.-Papua New Guinea Strategic Partnership Dialogue, which was held in Washington, D.C. last month. Many thanks to Jeffrey Donald and the whole team at BCIU, as well as our partners at the U.S. Department of Commerce, for their many contributions to this successful trip. 

Ensuring women have access to opportunities and the tools they need to lead in the private sector is critical to our global economic security.   Earlier this week, I led a roundtable with Women of the World and the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) on women’s economic empowerment and digital inclusion. We discussed the increased focus across the U.S. government on supporting gender equity and generating economic opportunities for women in the United States and around the world.     Particularly in developing countries, women’s low participation in the workforce impedes economic growth and poverty reduction. Through public-private cooperation, we can increase access to skills training, STEM education, and technology for women and girls, enabling innovation and economic advancement.   Grateful to BCIU for organizing this event, and to Beacon Global Strategies for hosting us!

The U.S.-Polish economic and trade partnership is strong, resilient, and expanding.  I just returned from a productive trip to Warsaw, where I participated in several impactful events and meetings: - I spoke at the U.S.-Poland-Ukraine Veterans Reintegration Forum, which was funded through our Ukraine Business Facilitation Program. The conference focused on sharing tools and best practices to support Ukraine’s veterans re-entering the workforce, which in turn will aid Ukraine’s economic recovery post-war. - At the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland Manufacturers’ Forum, I delivered keynote remarks highlighting the importance of the U.S.-Poland bilateral economic relationship and Poland’s remarkable economic success. Poland was second in the world in total GDP change in a 30-year period (1990-2020), behind China and ahead of India. - While visiting Google Polska (2023 Secretary’s Award for Corporate Excellence winner), I engaged in a roundtable discussion with Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. We discussed the opportunities in Poland’s growing tech sector and resources the State Department offers to U.S. companies overseas. Over 1,500 companies with American capital are operating in Poland. - I joined Ambassador Mark Brzezinski for coffee with women business leaders in Warsaw who are helping to drive the Polish economy forward. We know that when women are empowered, we all benefit. - To close out the trip, I met with the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology to discuss our growing energy cooperation, including the construction of Poland’s first nuclear powerplant by U.S. companies Bechtel & Westinghouse. Many thanks to U.S. Embassy Warsaw & Ambassador Brzezinski for the warm welcome, and for making this visit a success.