Herb Cochran, Executive Director

Herb Cochran, Executive Director, AmCham VietnamHerb Cochran has helped transform AmCham into an influential organization that promotes trade and investment between Vietnam and the United States, with a focus on developing networking, information-sharing, and advocacy activities to improve the business environment.

He mobilized AmCham Vietnam members’ substantial efforts to conclude negotiations on the Vietnam-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement and Vietnam’s WTO Accession, and to have these two agreements approved by the U.S. Congress. As a result, trade between Vietnam and the U.S. increased from $ 1.2 billion in 2000 to about $ 22 billion in 2011. And Herb expects that total Vietnam-U.S. trade will reach $ 44 billion in 2020.

Herb helped AmCham Vietnam develop its information and outreach activities such as organizing trade and investment missions to the U.S. by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee and the Dong Nai People’s Committee, hosting the 40th Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Council of AmChams, and developing the AmCham web site at www.amchamvietnam.com, which welcomes over 250,000+ visitors and nearly 350,000+ page views per month.

With Herb’s leadership and support, AmCham Vietnam’s committees and industry sector experts have helped improve mutual understanding on key issues in U.S.-Vietnam trade and investment, including implementation of trade agreements, preserving Vietnam-U.S. apparel trade, strengthening governance and anti-corruption efforts, improved industrial relations, Project 30 (simplification of Vietnam’s administrative procedures), work force development for modern manufacturing, promoting trade and investment between the U.S. and Vietnam’s Southern Key Economic Region, and the Asia Develpment Bank’s strategy for the economic and social development of Vietnam and the Greater Mekong Subregion. Organizationally, AmCham never been stronger: the number of company and associate members and representatives has quadrupled and the annual revenues have nearly quintupled.

Networking social activities are also important, and Herb’s team have developed signature member events, including the annual AmCham Winter Weekend and Roundtable, Independence Day Celebration & Family BBQ, and Governors’ Ball.

Herb also led the development of AmCham’s CSR Inititatives, including the AmCham Scholarship Program, Grants to Small and Medium Vietnamese Community Service Organizations, and participation in global community activities such as the World Blood Donor Day, and International Coastal Cleanup Day.

Prior to joining AmCham, Herb was Commercial Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and Principal Commercial Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City. He helped establish the commercial office of the U.S. Embassy, hiring staff and establishing trade and finance programs, including the U.S. Ex-Im Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). In 1998-99 he established the commercial office of the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.

Herb also served as Regional Director, East Asia and Pacific, U.S. Commercial Service, based in Washington DC. His responsibilities included program, personnel, and budget support for the commercial departments of 15 United States Embassies in the Asia/Pacific region, from Tokyo, Seoul, and Beijing in Northeast Asia, to all the countries of Southeast Asia, and down to Australia and New Zealand.

Other international assignments were: Commercial Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, Commercial Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, and at the U.S. Consulate General in Osaka, Japan.

Herb has received many notable awards, including two Bang Khen awards in 2010 from the Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to AmCham Vietnam (HCMC) and to Herb personally. He received the U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal for Exceptional Service, for work while at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo related to opening Japan’s telecommunications market to U.S. equipment and services, and also opening Japan’s architecture/construction/engineering market with international competitive bidding for the award-winning Kansai International Airport Terminal. He also received Commerce Department Silver Medal for Meritorious Service for work related to Japan’s implementation of the “GATT Code on Technical Barriers to Trade.”

Born in North Carolina, Herb earned a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (History), and a Certificat from the Institut d’Études Politiques (Sciences Po) in Paris. He is also a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington DC (National Defense Strategy).

He is a member of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, BoardSource: Building Effective NonProfit Boards, American Foreign Service Association, and Army and Navy Club in Washington DC.

Contact points

AmCham Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City
New World Hotel Business Center #323
76 Le Lai Street, District 1
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
T: +84 8 3824 3562
F: +84 8 3824 3572
E: Herb Cochran – AmCham Vietnam (HCM City).

More …

Sep 26, 2011 Gõ cửa Amcham Vietnam: Nhập khẩu vào Mỹ: Đường rộng, ngõ hẹp, Thứ Hai, 26/09/2011. AmCham Vietnam (American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam) là Hiệp hội Thương mại Hoa Kỳ tại Việt Nam, chuyên xúc tiến thương mại Mỹ – Việt. Ông Herb Cochran – Giám đốc điều hành AmCham Vietnam tại TP.HCM đã chia sẻ nhiều thông tin và hoạt động hữu ích tại AmCham mà doanh nghiệp xuất khẩu Việt Nam có thể tham gia. English

Oct 13, 2011 Interview: AmCham Scholarship Program

Jan 2, 2012 Herb Cochran: Tôi thích câu tục ngữ “Buôn có bạn, bán có phường,” Doanh Nhan Saigon | Cuoi Tuan, 2/1/2012. Herb Cochran – Giám đốc Điều hành AmCham Việt Nam, TP. Hồ Chí Minh đã trải qua phần lớn cuộc sống của ông tại các nước châu Á như Nhật Bản, Thái Lan và Việt Nam. Trong đó ông đã ở Việt Nam lâu nhất, hơn 15 năm. Herb nói tiếng Việt không nhiều nhưng phát âm rất chuẩn! Ông đã lãnh đạo đội ngũ AmCham Vietnam góp phần thúc đẩy quan hệ thương mại Việt Nam – Hoa Kỳ đi đến những thành tựu đáng kể như: Hiệp định thương mại song phương Việt Nam – Hoa Kỳ 2001, Hiệp định Thương mại may mặc Việt Nam – Hoa Kỳ 2003, Việt Nam gia nhập WTO 2007. Năm 2010 Ủy ban Nhân dân TP.HCM đã trao tặng các bằng khen cho Herb Cochran và AmCham Vietnam về các hoạt động xúc tiến thương mại đầu tư, trao tặng học bổng cho sinh viên và các dự án từ thiện xã hội.

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