On behalf of Winnie Wong, Chair of AmCham Vietnam here in Ho Chi Minh City, we are delighted to extend a special invitation to you for our Chair’s Circle event of the year, a welcome cocktail reception for newly-arrived U.S. Consul General in HCMC Susan Burns. This exclusive, invite-only event will take place on Thursday, October 6th, from 5:30-6:45 PM, in the Ben Thanh Ballroom 3, just before the Welcome Dinner for Consul General Susan Burns that we are hosting at the New World Saigon Hotel. While there is no charge for this special Chair’s Circle cocktail event, seating is limited. Please register below by COB Monday, October 3th. Also, please register for the dinner now if you have not already done so.

The event will allow an opportunity for a brief discussion of key trade and investment challenges and opportunities, and for an informal networking until 6:45 PM. We will then move to the foyer to join the rest of the attendees for the dinner in Ballroom 1 & 2.  We look forward to a fun and insightful evening!

Susan Burns will be Principal Officer in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in August 2022. She recently finished her assignment as the Director for the Office of Mainland Southeast Asia in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. She previously served as the Director for Regional Strategy and Training in the State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs. Ms. Burns also served as the Public Affairs Officer in Kampala, Uganda and Kathmandu, Nepal. In Uganda, Ms. Burns oversaw the Mission’s response to the South Sudan crisis as acting Deputy Chief of Mission. In Nepal, Ms. Burns led the crisis preparedness and communications response to the 2015 earthquake. Ms. Burns’ other assignments include Krakow, Poland, the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Ghana and Taiwan.

Ms. Burns was recommended for promotion into the Senior Foreign Service in 2018 and was awarded the State Department’s Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy in 2017. Ms. Burns has a master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College and a bachelor’s degree from McGill University. She has studied Mandarin, Polish, Nepali, Vietnamese and French. Ms. Burns is married and has two daughters.