Recently, Ambassador Marantis joined Virginia Senator Mark Warner for a town hall meeting at the Hewlett-Packard headquarters in Herndon, Virginia. Taking questions from the audience, Ambassador Marantis highlighted the Obama Administration’s agenda to foster sustainable growth and create well-paying American jobs through trade.
Ambassador Marantis with Senator Warner and HP Executives
The Ambassador’s remarks focused on the U.S.-South Korea Trade Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations, and his recent participation in the 2011 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers forum in Big Sky, Montana. Each of these initiatives highlights the importance of the Asia-Pacific region to both the U.S. and Virginia economies. With the region accounting for 44 percent of global trade and 40 percent of the world’s population, breaking into and staying in these markets is vital to growing Virginia’s $17 billion in goods exports, as well as its services exports. Increasing Virginia’s exports will also have a significant and positive effect on export-supported jobs. Nearly one-fifth of Virginia manufacturing workers depend on manufacturing exports for their jobs.
As the world's largest information technology company, it is no surprise that HP webcast the event to its 325,000 employees worldwide – allowing an audience member in Paolo Alto, California to ask a question on the pending trade agreements and an audience member in India to inquire into U.S.-India trade relations. Ambassador Marantis would like to thank Senator Warner and the entire HP team for organizing such a wonderful event.
