White House Initiative on AAPIs meets with Economic Agencies

White House Initiative on AAPI’s meets with Economic Agencies at the Export-Import bank, May 8, 2013 (by Marveen Paransothy)

Last week, the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders participated in a roundtable discussion with representatives of various economic agencies of the U.S. Government. The discussion focused on what agencies can do to continue to support the economic development of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

With 1.5 million AAPI-owned businesses in the United States, having AAPI-owned businesses engaged in international trade can help contribute to the overall economy. Many AAPI-owned businesses have strong ties across Asia and are in a prime position to help export goods, create jobs here at home and support the President’s National Export Initiative to double exports by 2015.

The Initiative emphasized the importance of fostering economic linkages between AAPI-owned businesses in supporting the Administration’s rebalancing efforts across the Asia-Pacific region and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Agency representatives expressed their interest in working closely with the Initiative to co-host forums to introduce the community to the President’s economic agenda as well as display the various federal resources available to AAPI-owned businesses to start and expand their businesses globally.

Adil Kabani is the Economic Policy Advisor with the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.