Europe/Eurasia Taskforce 
Dates and Issues

Peter S. Rashish has joined the U.S. Chamber as the Vice President for Europe and Eurasia.  Rashish will lead the Chamber's International Division in crafting and implementing strategies to promote the interests of Chamber members in the transatlantic market.  Before coming to the Chamber he was Senior Advisor for Europe at McLarty Associates, an international strategic advisory firm, which included six and a half years based in Vienna, Austria.

In the first two weeks of the month he participated in the following meetings:

• Roel Nieuwenkamp, Director, Trade Policy & Globalization, Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs 
• Stuart Jones, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State 
• H.E. Christian Prosl, Ambassador of Austria

Updates:

• The Chamber on February 4^th ,  had the honor of hosting Spanish President José Luis Zapatero.  During his presentation at the Chamber, President Zapatero pointed to the ongoing importance of U.S. foreign direct investment as a force for Spain's economic and social modernization and growing Spanish foreign direct investment in the U.S.  President Zapatero's remarks were a reminder that - notwithstanding current troubles several eurozone economies are experiencing - the European Union is the United States' only real economic peer.  The deep integration between these two advanced markets continues to be the main driver of new ideas and technologies for global prosperity.
• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Europe department in early February hosted a roundtable discussion on the U.S. - EU Innovation Dialogue, featuring Juan Verde, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Europe and Eurasia.  Our members had a good opportunity to weigh in on the Innovation Dialogue and we hope to continue to be a strong platform for furthering the TEC.

Upcoming: 

• Monday, February 22, 2010: 
  
  Duygu Erdemgil, Associate Director and Eric Stewart, Senior Advisor, to meet with the Vice Mayor of Riga and members of his Delegation.
• Wednesday, February 24, 2010:
  
  Gary Litman, Vice President, Europe Policy and Initiatives, to attend GermanAmericanBusinessForum Dialogue Session: German-American Business in 2010: Stimulus, Innovation and Growth
• Thursday, February 25, 2010:
  
  Peter Rashish, Vice President, Europe & Eurasia, to meet with, Mrs. Margarita Oliva and Mr. Albert Garrofé, Chairman and Vice-Chairman Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce in New York.
• Monday, March 1, 2010:
  
  Gary Litman, Vice President, Europe Policy and Initiatives, to meet with Mr. Valery Shantsev, Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Russia.