U.S. first envoy to ASEAN to work from Washington

Veeramalla Anjaiah and Lilian Budianto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 05/09/2008 9:38 AM  |  World

The United States has appointed Scot Marciel, a senior career diplomat, as its first ever ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Ambassador Marciel will shuttle between Washington and Jakarta, where the 10-member ASEAN Secretariat is located.

"I will not move to Jakarta at the moment. It will take some time to move in that direction. For the time being, I will work from Washington," Marciel told journalists at the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta on Thursday.

The U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment of Marciel on April 29, 2008.

Under the ASEAN Charter non-ASEAN member states can appoint and accredit ambassadors to ASEAN. The United States is the first ASEAN dialogue partner to appoint an ambassador.

Marciel, who joined the U.S. State Department in 1985, is one of the top experts on Southeast Asia in the State Department.

"Southeast Asia is not new to me. I have visited Southeast Asia several times." Marciel said.

He worked recently as deputy assistant secretary of the East Asia and Pacific Bureau, which deals with U.S. relations with Southeast Asia and ASEAN.

During his 23 years of diplomatic service, Marciel has also worked in Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Brazil and Turkey in various positions with U.S. diplomatic missions. He was also with the U.S. Economic Bureau's Office of Monetary Affairs.

ASEAN, Marciel said, is an important region for the world's sole superpower.

"ASEAN is our fifth largest export market," he said.

In 2007, U.S. exports to ASEAN countries reached US$61 billion and U.S. investors invested some $99 billion in 2006 in the resource-rich region.

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