Pacific Council President and CEO Dr. Jerrold D. Green and Director Steven Myers recently joined Secretary of State John Kerry at a State Department meeting of the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy (ACIEP). Green and Myers are both members of the committee, which advises the State Department and provides a forum for discussion of issues and problems in international economic policy. Meetings take place quarterly and are open to the public.

The committee, led by Ambassador Charles Rivkin, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, had two key agenda items for this meeting: first, encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in emerging markets, and second, exploring the promotion of U.S. interests in Iran through economic policy.

On the first topic, Secretary Kerry discussed a new State Department initiative (announced in summer 2015) called the “American Innovation Roadshow.” It aims to engage officials and young entrepreneurs across South and Southeast Asia to create an environment where innovation and investment can thrive. ACIEP members also sought to understand how trends in technology and innovation – e.g. digital currencies and digital payment platforms – affect how the State Department conducts and advances foreign policy.

The committee then turned to Iran and the impact of U.S. economic policy as foreign policy, specifically looking at the impact the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will have on the Iran’s nuclear future. In exchange for fulfilling key requirements that will ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, international sanctions relief has opened the door for international partners to the second-largest market in the region behind Egypt, with a young, educated, middle class population of an estimated 75 million. Committee members discussed the current political and business environment in Iran, and encouraged the Department of State’s continued engagement with the private sector on these issues.

Learn more about ACIEP here.