Paul Nicolaou, Executive Director of Business Sydney, Ashley Tsacalos, Partner at Clayton Utz and Commodore, and John Stavridis met with Matt Murray, the US Senior Official for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), on February 16 in Sydney.
Matt Murray was appointed as the US Senior Official for APEC in February 2022. In this role, he coordinates US participation in APEC and also oversees the Office of Economic Policy in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Prior to his current assignment, Matt led the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs (EB) as Senior Bureau Official from August 2021 to January 2022, and he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Trade Policy and Negotiations from September 2020 to August 2021.
Matt has focused on US economic engagement with the Asia Pacific region throughout his State Department career, including as Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs at the US Embassy in Beijing, Counselor for Economic Affairs at the US Embassy in Canberra, and Special Assistant for East Asian and Pacific issues in the Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment.
Matt is a Senior Foreign Service Officer who also has served overseas in Beijing, Shanghai, Dar es Salaam and New Delhi and in Washington DC as Director of the 24/7 Watch in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He has master’s degrees from the US Army War College and the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s degree from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.
The APEC is a regional economic forum established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific. APEC’s 21 members aim to create greater prosperity for the people of the region by promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth and by accelerating regional economic integration.
