Lauded as the first event of its kind, the Asian American Business Leaders Roundtable will be held in Las Vegas on August 8. Asian American business leaders will convene in the Flamingo Hotel and Casino from throughout the United States to share insights on topics such as the positive impact of Asian investment on the American economy, best practices among local Asian American Chambers, federal programs available to Asian American-owned businesses, incentives for “going green” and Asian American success stories.
Distinguished panelists from across the nation will include former U.S. Ambassador Sichan Siv, former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, Associate Director of the Minority Business Development Agency Chiling Tong, former Executive Director of the White House Initiative on AAPI Jimmy Lee and winner of Survivor: Cook Islands Yul Kwon.
The Roundtable will provide an opportunity for APA leaders to network and interact, as well as to get a sense of issues affecting Asian and Asian American business today.
One of these issues is how Asian foreign investment can benefit the American economy, a topic that Rudy Pamintuan, organizer of the event and former Chairman of the President’s Advisory Commission on AAPIs, says is essential to addressing America’s current economical state.
As Asia, particularly China, begins to grow economically, American companies are beginning to look to Asia for investments, and increasingly, Asian countries have been ready to provide them. This country could use the help, Pamintuan said.
Indian high-tech corporations also have invested at least $4 billion into the U.S., according to Joe Melookaran, former member of the president’s advisory commission on APPI. He believes similar numbers exist across Asia.
“It’s an interesting phenomenon that hasn’t happened in many decades,” Melookaran said. “Asia is on the rise, their economic activity is in top gear, and there’s a new impetus to find opportunities in the U.S.”
This investment, he added, will create more jobs and wealth, especially within the APA community, and spur general economic growth.
The state of Asian American business is also high on the agenda. In 2002, the Asian population in the United States was only 4.5 percent and brought in more than half of minority revenue, according to the Minority Business Development Agency.
Though APA-owned businesses are doing relatively well, a weakness that many smaller mom-and-pop stores have lies in the difficulty upgrading into high growth businesses, said Melookaran, who will head the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce minority business-mentoring program that has proven successful in helping APA businesses grow nationwide.
As a small business owner for the past three years, panelist Sachi Koto will also share her experiences on the subject. Through her business, Koto has worked to increase APA visibility throughout the nation by organizing the “Who’s Who in Asian American Communities Awards,” now in its third year. This year’s awards will be televised on three networks with an expected 15 million viewership. Recipients will include Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and Senator Daniel Inouye, among four other notable Asian Pacific Americans.
Koto commented that the Roundtable will be intimate and a once-in-a-lifetime affair for many.
“For someone to get a front-row seat to all of these people,” Koto mused. “Basically, if you’re an Asian American, you should be there. It’s a Who’s Who list in and of itself.”
Amazing.