December 12,2008

Baucus to Visit UAE, Vietnam Dec. 13 – 20

Finance Chairman will strengthen relations, discuss world economic crisis, seek trade opportunities in United Arab Emirates and Vietnam this month

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) announced today that he will visit Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates this month to strengthen relations at a time of change in the U.S. government and worldwide economic difficulty, and also to seek mutually beneficial trade opportunities. Baucus leads the Senate committee responsible for international trade policy in the U.S., and was instrumental in the granting of Permanent Normal Trade Relations to Vietnam.

The trip will be an exploration of two key drivers of the future global economy. In both countries, Baucus will meet personally with government leaders and trade officials to discuss economics and trade, and will give major addresses at universities on how our nations should relate on trade and other issues. Baucus will also focus on America’s global competitiveness in meetings with business leaders and students. Baucus’s trip will take him to Dubai, Abu Dhabi,Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City.

“The entire world is on pins and needles right now to see how the economic crisis will shake out, and how the new American president and a stronger Democratic Congress will engage with other nations. Now is the time to reach out,” Baucus said. “Now is the time to understand what’s happening to the boom economies of nations like the UAE, where creative leadership has harnessed vast resources to develop powerful economic investment tools. Now is the time to understand how Asian countries are approaching economic development, and to ensure that our relations with key trading partners like Vietnam arestrong, and that markets are as open as they should be to American products like beef.”

Baucus will meet with senior government officials, business and civil society leaders, and students – giving major addresses at Zayed University in Dubai and at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam as well.

“America needs to rebuild its economy and engage the world smartly on trade, in a way that creates good-paying jobs here at home. Face-to-face engagement from the Congress will help us to better understand those tasks, and begin to achieve them,” Baucus said.  

Photos and updates will be available throughout Baucus’s trip.

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