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Meet
your host, Doug Barry, and today's guests
U.S. Ambassador to Singapore
Frank Lavin and Singapore Councilor for Commercial Affairs
George Ruffner.
Frank Lavin
U. S. Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore
Frank Lavin was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Singapore in August
2001, culminating over two decades of work in Asian affairs in both
government and the private sector.
From 1996 until his present position, Lavin worked as a banker and
venture capitalist in Hong Kong and Singapore. He served in senior
banking and management positions primarily within the multinational
corporate group of Citibank and Bank of America. Previously he
served in a variety of senior policy and management positions in the
Reagan and first Bush Administrations.
In President Bush's father's Administration, Lavin served as Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Asia and the Pacific,
responsible for commercial policy, assisting companies with market
access, and trade negotiations for all of East Asia, ex-Japan.
In the Reagan Administration, Lavin served in the White House as
Director of the Office of Political Affairs, assisting President
Reagan with the management of domestic political issues, most
notably with then-Vice President Bush's candidacy for President.
Lavin also served on the Reagan National Security Council Staff as
Deputy Executive Secretary. In this capacity, Lavin was responsible
for planning State Visits and Summit meetings, including the
Reagan-Gorbachev Summit in Reykjavik. Previously Lavin held staff
positions at the White House and the U.S. Department of State.
Educated at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University,
Lavin earned a B.Sc.F.S. He went on to earn an M.Sc. in Chinese
Language and History from Georgetown, an M.A. in International
Relations and International Economics from the School of Advanced
International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University and an
M.B.A. in Finance at the Wharton School at the University of
Pennsylvania. Lavin is a Lt Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves. An
Ohio native, Lavin is married and has three children.
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George F.
Ruffner
Councilor for Commercial Affairs, Singapore
Mr. Ruffner assumed his duties as the Senior Commercial Officer in
Singapore on August 12, 2002. Prior to his assignment to Singapore,
he served at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. As the Senior Commercial
Officer in the Philippines from 1999 - 2002, he played a key role in
implementing two of the Commercial Service's newest programs, Show
Time and the Platinum Key Service.
Mr. Ruffner's career with the U.S. Department of Commerce began when
he was selected for the U.S. Government's Management Intern Program.
After four years with the Department's Office of International
Marketing, he completed Spanish language training and was assigned
to Mexico City where he served as the Trade Promotion Officer at the
U.S. Trade Center. When the Commercial Service was formed in 1980,
he was one of only fifty officers selected for this elite corps of
trade promotion professionals.
In 1982, Mr. Ruffner transferred to Santiago, Chile, where he served
as the Commercial Attachè until 1984, when he moved to Netherlands
to assume the position of Principal Commercial Officer at the U.S.
Consulate General in Amsterdam. After a five year stint in Holland,
he became the Senior Commercial Officer at the American Embassy in
Singapore in 1989. Mr. Ruffner returned to Washington, D.C. in 1993
for Italian training in preparation for his assignment to Italy,
where he served as the Principal Commercial Officer in Milan from
1994 - 1999. During this period, he was instrumental in developing
and implementing the trade event portion of the Service's Showcase
Europe Program.
Mr. Ruffner received his BA in Economics from Hobart College in 1967
and his MBA from Columbia University in 1969. Following two years in
the U.S. Army, he returned to Columbia University's School of
International Affairs where he received his Master's Degree in
International Affairs in 1972. Mr. Ruffner's professional
achievement awards include the U.S. Department of Commerce's Gold
and Silver Medals.
Mr. Ruffner is married to the former Marjon Huisman, a native of the
Netherlands. They have five cats.
Doug
Barry joined the U.S. Commercial Service, the global business solutions
unit of the Department of Commerce, in 1998. Barry has served as
an international trade specialist, helping U.S. companies enter
emerging markets in Russia and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union.
He earned his undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University
and has graduate degrees from New York University and Columbia University.
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Market Briefs -- a
combination of videoconference and streaming media technologies -- brings you
real-time Commercial Service global market insights and opportunities from
around the world. The Singapore Market Brief interview, taped in July 2003, is
brought to you by the International Trade Administration,
Commercial
Service, U.S. Department of Commerce. The use of trade, firm, or
corporation names within this Webcast or on the surrounding pages, or links to
Web sites outside the U.S. Federal Government are for the convenience of the
user. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement or approval of any
private sector Web site, product or service by the U.S. Commercial Service,
U.S. Commerce Department.
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