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Frank Lavin is the Chairman of the Public Affairs Practice for Edelman Asia Pacific, working with companies across the region as they grapple with regulatory challenges and sensitive government relations issues.
He also serves as Chairman and CEO of Export Now, a company that helps other U.S. firms sell into China through the largest B2C e-commerce platform in the world, TMall. (See ExportNow.com)
In Government, Lavin served as Under Secretary for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce 2005-2007. In that capacity, Lavin served as lead trade negotiator for both China and India and was the senior policy official in the Department responsible for commercial policy, export promotion, and trade negotiations across the globe. Lavin was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore from 2001-05, where his duties included helping negotiate the landmark U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.
In the private sector, Lavin served in senior finance and management positions in Hong Kong and Singapore with Cushman & Wakefield Investors Asia, Bank of America, and Citibank.
Earlier in his career, Lavin served in the George H.W. Bush and Reagan Administrations, working in the Department of Commerce, Department of State, National Security Council, and White House. Lavin served as Director of the Office of Political Affairs in the White House 1987-89.
Lavin earned a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; a M.S. in Chinese Language from Georgetown University; a M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University; and a M.B.A. in Finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
He has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and other periodicals.
Lavin is the co-author of "Export Now" (2011), a featured title by John Wiley & Sons. He was Editor of "Rising to the Challenge" (EDM 2010), the official book of the USA Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 Expo.
Lavin currently serves on the Board of Directors of Globe Specialty Metals, the world's largest producer of silicon metal alloys, Consistel, the largest telecommunications firm for in-building services in Southeast Asia, UOB Bank a Singapore-based regional bank, and UTEX, a Houston-based energy services firm. He also served as Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo USA Pavilion.
