Ambassador
Ambassador Event
THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN ARGENTINA (AMCHAM) HONORS AMBASSADOR WAYNE
May 21, 2009
The American Chamber of Commerce in Argentina hosted on May 21 a farewell reception in honor of Ambassador Wayne which was attended by more than 150 representatives of major U.S. companies operating in Argentina such as Ford, WalMart, IBM, Dow, Dupont, Citibank, etc. On behalf of its members, AmCham CEO, Alejandro Diaz, thanked the Ambassador for his significant contributions in supporting U.S./Argentine bilateral ties and presented him with a plaque in honor of his accomplishments. The Ambassador thanked the AmCham for their continuous support and counsel and expressed his gratitude for the professional and personal relationships that he has developed with representatives of numerous companies during his time in Argentina.
“Collaborating with the American Chamber of Commerce in Argentina (AmCham) on numerous programs and initiatives was a memorable part of my tenure as U.S. Ambassador. I believe that through AmCham's vision and leadership and by working together, we have enhanced our strong and historic commercial relationship with Argentina. Congratulations to AmCham Argentina!” stated Ambassador Wayne at the farewell reception hosted by the AmCham in his honor.
Ambassador Wayne recounted that his first official event as Ambassador was to participate in AmCham’s Premio Ciudadania Empresaria honoring the excellent work that companies perform in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility, a top Embassy priority during his tenure in Argentina. Many companies commented that the Ambassador had personally visited their CSR initiatives, a gesture that they greatly appreciated given the important role it plays in supporting their local communities. The Ambassador highlighted the Embassy and AmCham’s superb collaborative efforts in additional areas such as the NGO Fair, which recently attracted eighty-five Argentine NGOs providing them a forum to discuss the vital role that they serve. He also mentioned their joint success in highlighting the importance of protecting intellectual property “to ensure that innovation and creativity are respected and safeguarded as a necessary means to preserve the cultural integrity of our artists’ work and our companies’ research and development, regardless of where they are from or call home.”
The Ambassador congratulated AmCham on last year’s 90th Anniversary celebration explaining that he had an opportunity to participate in several of their events and that each was unique and original, many of which highlighted the wonderful cultural bonds that our two countries share.
The Ambassador concluded his remarks by stating that “All of your efforts in turn help our mutual goal: to strengthen our bilateral relations. I have said this before and will repeat it again, you are all Ambassador’s in your own right.”
AmCham Argentina, an independent, non–profit organization, was founded in 1918, dedicated to the promotion of trade and investment between the U.S. and Argentina. Currently, AmCham has 766 members, of which, 63% are U.S. firms, representatives of U.S. companies or have U.S. capital. Currently, there are more than 500 U.S.-based firms in Argentina that employ over 155,000 Argentines. In the 2008 “Best Places to Work” survey, U.S. companies occupied six of the top ten and 21 of the top 50 positions.
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