Chairman Brett Sciaroni; members of the American Chamber of Commerce Cambodia (AmCham); ladies and gentlemen: Good afternoon and thank you for coming. I would also like to thank Brett and the Executive Director of AmCham, Ron Marvin, for inviting me to speak today.

It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to introduce Chris Hartshorn, Asia Pacific Sales Director for The Boeing Company, one of the largest and most successful aviation companies in the world. It is a company driven by quality and with an outstanding safety record that began when William Boeing assembled his first plane in a lakeside hangar near Seattle. He went on to create this company that built better planes and build them faster. Judging by Boeing’s $105 billion in revenues for 2015, I would say Mr. Boeing got it right.

Supporting successful companies like Boeing in Cambodia is an important part of the Embassy’s mission. Trade and investment creates and supports jobs in both Cambodia and the United States. Furthermore, the engine of economic growth also helps to address challenges such as poverty, malnutrition, and human trafficking in a sustainable way. We cannot, of course, achieve our goals alone. In addition to Cambodia’s vibrant business community, we have been very fortunate to have developed a close working relationship with the Cambodian chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce. AmCham has been our key partner on business issues, and we have traveled together on trade missions to Bangkok, Singapore, and the United States to discuss the many opportunities in Cambodia and encourage stronger bilateral business ties. AmCham and the US Embassy will continue to work together on economic and commercial engagement with Cambodia.

I would now like to introduce our featured speaker, Chris Hartshorn. As a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering, Chris understands the technical side of the aviation industry as well as the business side. He also has a wide range of flight experience, having served as a U.S. Navy pilot and later as a United Airlines flight officer. In total, he has almost 25 years of experience in the private aviation sector and government service, including 13 years with Boeing. We are very fortunate to have an executive with his experience join us today, and we are confident that with someone like Chris leading the team, Boeing’s efforts in the Cambodian market will be successful.

Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Chris Hartshorn.