Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles H. Rivkin will travel on August 8-12 to Burma (Myanmar) and Sri Lanka, the US State Department said.
Before visiting to Sri Lanka, Assistant Secretary Rivkin will lead the State Department’s “American Innovation Roadshow” to Rangoon and Naypyidaw on August 8-10. This trip is part of an ongoing series of State Department Innovation Roadshows across Asia, which were launched by Secretary Kerry and are part of U.S.-ASEAN Connect, the Department said. It follows earlier roadshows with leading U.S. companies led by Assistant Secretary Rivkin and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State Ambassador David H. Thorne, to Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, and four cities in India.
The Burma Innovation Roadshow delegation includes representatives from IBM, Chevrolet, Coca Cola, General Motors, Omidyar Network, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Deloitte among others. The delegation will engage with government leaders, civil society groups, small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs to understand the opportunities in the development of key sectors of Burma’s economy.
Assistant Secretary Rivkin will be in Colombo, Sri Lanka on August 11-12 to meet with government and business leaders to discuss opportunities for increasing two-way trade and investment.