Conference on Global Entrepreneurship: Economic Development for Asia and the U.S. – Dinner Reception & Concluding Remarks

Thomas Tam: Ladies and gentlemen, I want to welcome you to our reception session. I was going to introduce to you the honorable John Liu, but unfortunately he can’t be with us. However he has sent Mr. Philip Hom and also [Mai Hua Lu] here to represent him as the Speaker. Both Mr. Hom and Ms. Lu will present a proclamation to the Asian American Asian Research Institute. I would like to have Professor Betty Lee Sung, Parmatma Saran and Ngee-Pong Chang to come up here so we can take a picture. Please come up here. Terry, come up here, too. Mr. Phil Hom and Ms. Lu, please come.

Mr. Wong: Thank you very much Dr. Tam. Councilman Liu unfortunately could not come today because he had an obligation out in Queens with the borough president, but he definitely sends his regards. He is a big supporter of the Asian American Asian Research Institute and all the great work that they are doing. Councilman Liu along with Speaker Gifford Miller represented by my colleague [Mai Hua Lu], had a proclamation made to honor the Asian American Asian Research Institute. It’s long and I don’t want  to bore everyone, so I’ll just read a couple of paragraphs from there. “The Council of the City of New York is pleased and proud to honor the Asian American Asian Research Institute of the City University of New York for the dedication and leadership as shown in expanding the field of knowledge about issues affecting the Asian American community. And it is with great pride and deepest gratitude that we congratulate the Asian American Asian Research Institute, a research and resource center of excellence. Now therefore be it known that the Council of the city of New York congratulates the Asian American Asian Research Institute on the historic occasion of the Asian American Heritage Month and the City University of New York’s conference on global entrepreneurship and honors its tireless work on behalf of the Asian American community, the people of New York City, and scholars around the world. Signed this  sixth day of May in the year 2005, Gifford Miller, Speaker for the entire City Council and  John Liu, New York City Councilman. [applause]

Terrence Martell: And the check will be coming soon. [laughter]

Thomas Tam: Our next speaker is the honorable Wellington Chen who was appointed  by Governor George Pataki in June 2000 as a member of the board of trustees of the City University of New York. He was the first Chinese American in Queens to serve on the Community Planning board, where he chaired the cultural affairs, housing, landmarks, planning and zoning committees and helped to bring about the revival of downtown Flushing. More recently, he is involved in an effort to bring the Olympics to New York City. We wish him success and we hope that he has good words to bring to us. Please welcome Trustee Wellington Chen.

Wellington Chen: Thank you for those kind words, Dr. Tam. I am pleased to be here with all of you, with all the speakers and President Muyskens and all the honored guests here. Initially I was told that my speech would stand between you and the food, so I’m glad to see that you got the food first. The last thing you want is somebody to make long speeches and you are hungry, after an all-day, important conference like this. So I had a     ghost writer put together for me a little speech, just a little food for thought. With your indulgence, I’ll go through a little of what she wrote for me, and obviously this is a collaboration.   The main theme is that we are very pleased that AAARI is fostering this conversation about global entrepreneurship. We hear anecdotes about private development in China, or about U.S. companies whose work forces are located in India. But we do not often, if you pardon me, think about global entrepreneurship. I think the discussions we are having today are a good start and I’m really especially looking forward to what the next guest, Mr. Mok’s remarks will be.

As the world gets smaller, as Thomas Freidman puts it—and the Chancellor alluded to his book, it gets flatter. There are great opportunities for entrepreneurs who are educated and adaptable. That is those who are in the social and financial position to take advantage of emerging ideas and new fields. For example, those with a sophisticated knowledge of financial markets or new technologies will be poised to answer needs among those fields or be consultants to existing companies. Of course, not everyone is in that position. I think it is important that our conversations about global economic development take place within a larger context: the entire world, if you will. Our understanding of new markets should also include a consideration of the social, economic, and cultural development in emerging countries. How can global entrepreneurship affect employment rates, poverty rates, basic health, education, and human rights issues.

This is the main theme I want to talk about today: poverty, that Time magazine wrote about it—how to end poverty. When we know, that about half of Africa’s population, about three hundred million people, are living in extreme poverty, the equivalent of a dollar a day or less, we understand that not everyone is poised to reap the benefit of new markets or new ideas. So perhaps our definition of entrepreneurial opportunities can be broadened to include the biggest opportunity of all: eradicating poverty. A quick tour of the continent demonstrates that global economic development is today still hindered by poverty around the world. And I think this is our biggest  challenge today as a global society.

I would just like to make a few points on today’s conversations. First, I think it is important that entrepreneurship should be seen as a way of creating jobs, not simply as a way of creating individual wealth. In Africa, participation in the labor force is showing decline. Women and girls in Africa often have the lowest paying jobs. And youth employment is a significant problem. In Latin America the average unemployment rate in the first half of 2003 was eleven percent. In Africa, this especially affects women and young people. In places like these, where poverty is still rampant, stimulating the economy is critical.

Of course, the poor did not create poverty. Poverty is often the result of a number of factors, including sub-standard wages. So our ability to develop national and international policies that encourage decent labor and that include entrepreneurship     opportunities for young women and men is critical to improving the employment rates and wages. Second: as the world flattens, it means that the competition increases and the competition is not always kind to the poorest workers. In a global world market, competition can be uneven. The economies of many developing countries are precarious, so emerging competition can have a profound impact, not only on a single business, but also on an entire country. For example, I recently read about the increasing competition to Indonesia’s wood-working industries from China, Malaysia, India and the Phillipines. Wood furniture is Central Java’s largest export earner, so obviously individual furniture businesses will have to figure out ways to restructure by finding ways to compete that do not harm the availability of fair wages of existing jobs is equally important. Similarly, laborers who plant, pick, and process the world’s food are often the poorest workers.  How can countries that compete in top markets also encourage entrepreneurial opportunities for local laborers? Is there a place in the global market for a worker who is interested in a business venture, but relieve him or her from spending most of his or her income on food alone?

So I will leave you with two observations. First, the poor may have the greatest potential as entrepreneurs. That may seem odd, but it’s quite obvious. After all, surviving day to day in an uncertain experience requires tremendous courage. Taking risks is a necessity in those circumstances and resilience is a given. We will not achieve the full possibility and the necessity of economic development if we overlook the hundreds of millions of people living in poverty. And so I will just open up to show you what Time magazine is saying: “We can banish poverty in our generation. Yet eight million people die each year because they are too poor to survive. And that tragedy is that with a little help they can even thrive.” And this is a book by Jeffrey Sachs that he is  coming out with. And the other statistic I want to show, it is obviously the same as in my speech, that the World Bank estimates that 1.1 billion people live in extreme poverty.  Asia has the least of these numbers, but Africa has the highest proportion—nearly half of its population.

This brings me to my second point, which is that, as a member of the CUNY Board of Trustees, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that education is the key to making this global opportunity available to all; this is two-fold. First we must know that those who have an education have a much greater chance of achieving economic and personal success and parity; that’s very obvious. Second, Americans students who can take advantage of international study programs and international students who can study in this country will be much better equipped to understand global working conditions and the complexity of the global economy. Their voices will be a very meaningful part of our conversation about and with the world. Finally, let me congratulate the institute and its participants for this important fascinating work that is happening today. The Institute has really taken the lead in exploring ideas that are critical to the Asian communities and communities around the world and I commend all of you for that leadership. Thank you very much for your indulgence.

Thomas Tam: Thank you, Trustee Chen. And now I would like to introduce a speaker without whom I would not hold this conference. The next speaker that I want to     introduce to you is someone who is very kind to the Asian American Asian Research Institute. He has supported us and provided us with a home in Midtown Manhattan and joined us in all our conferences. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the president of Queens College, Dr. James Muyskens.

James Muyskens: Thank you very much, Dr. Tam. It is certainly a pleasure for me to be here and also it’s an honor for me to share this platform with Wellington Chen. What a powerful message he just gave us; I certainly endorse that. Many of you asked me if I was here to give a speech and I know why you asked that. You looked at the program tonight and you were afraid it would go on too long. Let me assure you that I’m here just to give greetings and to say a few words about something I’m very proud of, the Asian American Asian Research Institute.

In just the space of a very few years, it has established itself as a major resource  for this city. Not only for Asian Americans, but for anyone who is interested in the future of our country. So it’s no surprise that today, at this conference on globalization, there was an absorbing, in-depth look at the issue. The Institute has been specializing in this sort of timely conference since ’02 when it examined the businesses and residents of Chinatown in the aftermath of 9/11 World Trade Center attack. So certainly everyone in the City University is aware of and proud of your achievements, Dr. Tam we congratulate and all of your colleagues. [applause] We have a special interest and pride in the Center because, as you know, we’re located in Flushing. Flushing is the most vibrant Asian American community in the United States. I don’t think I’m lying, I think that’s really  the case. So the students on our campus come from all the countries of Asia. In fact, over 23% of our students now are of Asian extraction at Queens College. So we’re always looking for ways in which we can do more of things that are important to the Asian community.

Last summer I was in China, had the opportunity to spend some time there, and saw first-hand the transformations happening in that country, especially in the cities. And I was there in order to further the relationships we already have with some of the universities in China. We’re also looking for other kinds of relationships to strengthen our ties with countries across China. We want very much to be a player ad therefore we’re so delighted to have this Institute as part of our portfolio. So, Dr. Tam, I congratulate you and everyone at the Institute for today’s conference. Your  achievements tell everyone that Asians are a vital part of our nation and we ignore you at the risk of impoverishing ourselves. Thank you.

Thomas Tam: Last, but not least, we are really honored to have with us the Chief Financial Officer from the U.S. Department of Labor. He has been a financial manager for major U.S. government agencies, such as the Department of Treasury, Department of Defense, and Department of State. In addition, he has served in various capacities for numerous community organizations, including the chapter President and National Vice President for the Organization of Chinese Americans. He is also a founding member of the Federal Asian and Pacific Americans Council, a true son of the Asian American     family. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our keynote speaker, Mr. Samuel Tinsing  Mok.

Samuel T. Mok: Good afternoon, thank you very much. Thank you for having me come over here today and thank you, Dr. Tam, for the very fine introduction. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our sponsors tonight, such as the White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders, Committee of 100, the Chinese Association for Science and Business, and the Weissman Center for International Business at Baruch College. I’m also very pleased today to see a lot of old friends, some of them I haven’t seen in a while: Professor Betty Lee Sung—I jokingly always call her  ‘mother,’ she and I go way back; Angie Tang, our secretary’s representative there, and she’s our person in New York; Betty Wu, who is doing very good work in our community; and I saw Alice Mong’s name somewhere in the program, I’m not sure if she’s here today, also an old friend, there you are, good to see you again; then, last but not least, two very handsome, capable, and smart young men who work in D.C., Eddy Badrina and Erik Wang.

I came up from Washington D.C. today to be with you. I received an invitation to speak on behalf of Secretary Elaine L. Chao, who brings you her greetings. She’s back in Kentucky this weekend as you probably know. For those of you follow sports, this weekend is a very important event in Kentucky. Anyway, I’m here on her behalf and I’m really very delighted and honored. When I received the invitation, I knew that I would be speaking to a very important audience and I would be around of a lot of very important friends, so I said I’d better do a very good job. Besides, I’m also here representing my boss. So I had my staff prepare talking points for me and I spent a lot of time reviewing and polishing it up. So last night, before I went to bed, I showed the proposed speech to my wife, Nancy. We’ve been married almost 35 years now. So I said, “Nancy, will you please take a look at this speech? Tomorrow I’ll be giving this to a group of very prominent community and business people in New York City.” So she looked at it and she gave me the same advice she gave me every night for the last 35 years we’ve been married. She said “Sam, please take out the garbage.” [laughter] So, I don’t have a  whole lot of notes.

Coming to New York is coming home for me because I came to this country in  1963, landed in Chinatown, New York. As a matter of fact, after I got off the plane, I  actually went to Chinatown to take a look because I haven’t been back in a long time. In  1963, I came to America from Hong Kong as a young man—I won’t tell you how old because then you could figure out how old I am now—we lived on Elizabeth and Spring Street. For those of you who watched Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America, I really can relate to that. When I first came to America in 1963, Chinatown consisted of one and a half streets: it was Mott and Bayard. We lived on Elizabeth and Spring Street, right  across from P.S. 202. Well, back then, it was little Sicily; nobody spoke English there. It was kind of like West Side Story’s tenement housing. So when we went there, I thought we went to the wrong country. It wasn’t the white picket fence with kids rolling on the lawn; that’s not the America we’re looking for. So every time I come up to New York, I go back to the old apartment where we used to live just to take a look. Today, it’s very     gentrified. I don’t think I could afford to live there today. So, this is how far we have come.

So, as I was telling you, my wife gave me advice and said, “Take out the garbage.” I always felt that my wife was the smartest person in the world, with good judgment because among all the guys in the world, she picked me as her husband. So definitely she has good judgment and good taste. The second person is the person I’m representing today, Secretary Elaine L. Chao, the first Chinese American cabinet officer in the United States of America and first Asian American woman cabinet officer. She, too, has tremendous taste and judgment because, of all the fellows out there, she picked me as her Chief Financial Officer. So, I really have respect for both of them.

Anyway, today, as I am here to talk to you about your event, I understand it is a very successful event and I’m very pleased to be part of this. The Labor Department is one of the younger departments in the federal agency. We have about 17,000 employees. We have an annual appropriation of about 55 billion, as in ‘b’, billion dollars. So, I’m responsible for spending about 55 billion dollars a year; it’s a very hard job. We actually have about 10 billion dollars of discretionary spending, for salary, expenses, and things like that, but the rest are all grants; we give a lot of money away.

As Dr. Tam said, this is my fourth time in the government. I’ve served in the Defense, State, Treasury, and now at Labor. During Bush 41, I had the identical job I’m having now, at Treasury. People always ask, what’s the difference being CFO at Treasury and being CFO at Labor? I always say, it’s a lot more pleasant to be a CFO of Labor because at Labor we give away money. We give grants, we pay unemployment, we pay workman’s comp, we pay all that stuff. We make sure people have income. At the Treasury Department, we have the IRS, Secret Service. Most of you probably don’t know this: the Secret Service, in addition to protecting the president, is also responsible for investigating and going after financial crimes and credit card frauds, alcoholic, tobacco, and firearms, and so forth in the U.S. Customs. So, at Treasury, we kick down doors and collect money. So people don’t like us that much. But here at Labor, everybody loves us. Secretary Elaine L. Chao is currently the longest-serving Labor Secretary since 1960. We are really indeed very proud of her because I think—I’m a little biased, but—I think we’re doing a great job.

Most of us, before I went to Labor, think of the Labor Department as an organization that regulates labor, laws, and regulations. Not true. That’s how we fit into your theme today. We, the Labor Department, are an economic engine. We make sure that the American workforce is ready for the 21st Century. We make sure that we have a competitive workforce, we also make sure that we have a secure workforce, we also want to make sure that our workforce has a quality workplace to work in.

There are many initiatives that our secretary has promoted that help what we call globalization, that you talked about. You read about it everyday, you read about a lot of stuff. But, I want to give you some examples. Last year, the Labor Department, under the leadership of Secretary Elaine L. Chao, approved a 64 million dollar grant for China     to improve its mine safety. As you probably know, China is the second, from what I read, highest in mine accidents, I believe just after Ukraine. So, we are trying to help raise safety in China. Second, Deputy Secretary Steve Law just recently came back from India, working on an agreement—I think they concluded the agreement—with a substantial U.S. government grant to India on child labor to raise the standards. So, basically what we’re trying to do here is to have a prepared workforce to enhance opportunities for American workers, a secure workforce to promote economic security for American workers, and a quality workforce and workplace so that American workers can work in a safe, healthy, and fair environment. Last, but not least, is a competitive workforce to address the  demand for the new and how we can compete against the others in the world. We want the American workforce to be flexible; we also, as a government, want to minimize the regulatory burdens. Most importantly, we want a force of a new generation of leaders and to promote diversity in the workplace.

Secretary Chao is extremely committed to make sure that we level the playing field for those who are historically underserved, including, but not limited to Asian Americans. What we have done at the Labor Department, we are very proud of. Under the leadership of President George Bush and also Secretary Chao, at the Labor Department, we have the highest number of Asian American political appointees among all the capital agencies. Under the leadership of President Bush, we have appointed a great number—I would like to believe the highest number—of Asian Americans in very,  very high places, including two capital officers. This is the first time in American history. In the Labor Department, we have 3 what is known as PAS, presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed, who are Asian American. They are Secretary Chao, myself, and  Shinae Chun, who is the Director of the Women’s Bureau. So, we have done all this. President Bush, Secretary Chao, and all of us, have created what we would call a critical mass—the largest group of Asian American Pacific Islanders who serve in a leadership position in this administration. We hope, among us, we bring to this administration and to this country, a very diverse view that each part of Asia’s perspective is blended in as policies are being formulated and rules are being enforced.

As Asian American Pacific Islanders, I am always asked this question: where is Asia in international trade? I think most of us will agree that Asia starts somewhere west of Hawaii, but then the question is where does it end? Most people think, traditionally, Asia ends somewhere around India. Some people think Asia ends around Vietnam; it’s not true. Have you heard of Asia Minor? If you really want to be correct about this, Asia goes all the way to Turkey. There’s a little place called Istanbul; in the old days it was called Constantinople—that’s where Asia ends. If you go north, where does Asia end? The Eskimos are Asian really. So, if you go south, where does it end? Back in the old days, most people would agree that it’s Indonesia, the fourth largest democracy in the world. But New Zealand and Australia, are they Asian countries? Most of you  remember, for those of you like myself, who came from former British subjects, we have some familiarity. I came from Hong Kong, so I used to be a Queen’s subject. For those of us who have lived in the British Commonwealth, we know a little bit about Australia and New Zealand. For many decades, Australia and New Zealand had a ‘White Australia’ policy that discouraged Asian immigrants. But now, with trade with Europe, for these two countries remained rather flat, and the booming economy in Asia, Australia and New Zealand reinvented themselves as Asian countries. As a matter of fact, a lot of Chinese are immigrating to Australia. I was very shocked to know that Chinese restaurants are very popular in New Zealand these days. I heard that, in Australia, Chinese and Japanese language are being offered as second languages in high school; I think that’s a good thing.

So let’s welcome those members to our community too. So if you buy that argument, Asia begins somewhere in Hawaii all the way to Turkey, from the North Pole, all the way down to New Zealand and Australia. You’re talking about half the world’s population. As you do business around the world and globalization. If you take a Japanese and put that person next to an Indian, and next to a Turk, what do they have in common? I don’t think a whole lot. They eat different foods, they have different religions, they have different culture, they have a totally different paradigm. In fact, most of our ancestors hated each other; sometimes they even tried to kill each other. ‘Asian’  as a group is a very diverse group. So when you do business in Asia, it’s not easy.  When you talk about Hispanics, most of them, by and large, speak Spanish, most of them are Catholic, and by and large, they have some commonality. We, as Asian Americans in this room, bring to us a very rich fabric, but also a lot of discord sometimes. What we are trying to do as Asian American, what we call, political community senior, elders, or leaders, we’re trying to find ways to work together with everybody so that way we can leverage our differences and work together to create a high performance, winning team.

I used to own a consulting firm before I came back—this is the fourth time in the government for me; I’ve been in and out of the government. Between Bush 41 and the current appointment I’m holding, I used to own a consulting firm. I worked with retired Senator Birch Bayh. I used to represent American companies in China and also represent Chinese companies in the United States. It afforded me a very comfortable living, but at the same time, it also allowed me to see all the challenges of international trade and how difficult it is being an Asian American. When I was young when I came to this country, we did not have all the opportunities that all the young people have. Secretary Chao is very mindful of that. She came to this country at eight years old, hardly speaking any English. So, today, she is very dedicated to make sure that all those who are historically underserved get a level playing field.

To prepare us, America, for the next generation to compete globally and efficiently, the Labor Department has created a lot of programs that I want to share with you briefly, that you can take advantage of. For example, we have an Asian American Pacific Islander internship program, among other internship programs, that take the best and brightest and all those deserving and qualified into the Department to serve in the summer, and they actually get paid. They get pretty good money, as a CFO, I’ll tell you, they get pretty good money and good experience. There are all kinds of internship programs in Washington, D.C. in the summer. A lot of them, in my opinion, are not really that productive. Secretary Chao actually meets with all these interns. We, the senior leaders in the Department, are personally charged with the responsibility of making sure each and every one gets a meaningful assignment. It’s a great program. If     you’re interested, please let us know; Angie Tang—I don’t want to put her on the spot, but—she is the person you want to go talk to. It’s too late for this year now, but think of next year. We already basically selected all the ones this year.

We also have done an opportunity conference every year in the Fall for Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans and others for business opportunity connections. I think last year we had almost 1,000 people from across the country that came. I hope you ask Angie Tang, and others—Betty Wu supports us. Therefore, we want to invite you to come and find out about opportunities: how to network, how to get government funding, how to get government grants. Those are important things that Secretary Chao created. We just finished last week the first ever Asian American Employee in the Federal Government summit. This is a summit that is held once a year to help Asian American employees in the federal government: how to network, how to write better resumes, how to get promotions, how to dress for success, and how to make presentations. These are opportunities not available in the past. Believe it or not, my first civil service rating when I came out of college in 1968 at Fordham University in New York was GS-7. At that time, there was actually no opportunity like this for me to figure out how to get into the government and things like that; you had to figure it out yourself. Today, Secretary Chao recognized all those hardships and created all those opportunities. So I hope you spread the word.

Today you’re talking about doing business, how to compete for globalization. Those are the things we are making to contribute to a more prepared workforce, a better workforce, a more competitive workforce, so that we, as Americans, can compete around the world. We are talking about workforce, we are talking about all these things we worry about how to be competitive.

When you talk about globalization, there’s a big problem around the world right now. We, Americans, have a similar problem, although not as severe as Japan and some other countries, called pension and retirement. The population is getting older. Younger people have to support the older generation. Take, for example, social security. In  the ’50s, every person who retired enjoyed a social security benefit; there were almost 15 or 16 people supporting that one person. Today, it’s every three supporting one. Pretty soon it will be every two supporting one. This program cannot be sustained. That’s why we’re working very hard to make sure everybody recognizes that we have a problem, that we need to fix it. We need to talk about it. Otherwise, we cannot burden our future generation with this problem. It will make us less competitive. It will make us less prepared. It will also make us not as qualified. So, thank God we are not the only one with the problem. Other countries have similar problems. So we’re working with everybody, trying to find out what is a better way to solve this problem.

New York City is indeed a very vibrant city. Every time I come back to New York, I get all charged up. Just driving down through the street in Washington, D.C., for those who visit there, it’s a very nice city. Angie Tang comes down here from time to time; I’ve seen Betty Wu there a lot of times. It is not the same thing. We are the political capital of the world, but you are the finance, business center of the world. New     York is really leading the way for the rest of us. Any way we in Washington, D.C. can help you, we need to know because if you don’t tell us, we don’t know how best to help you. We are very fortunate to have young people for the next generation to lead, like  Eddy Badrina and Erik Wang here. The President has supported that program. Betty Wu, who has been very busy shuttling between here and there. I buy airline stocks because they’re shuttling back and forth.

It is a very tough environment globally, but I think if we work together, we help each other out, and at the same time, if we support each other. Instead of being so fixated on our differences, we need to leverage our difference, so we can work towards a much better world and a more competitive workforce. I always said that when somebody looks at me, they see an Asian face. I can’t change that; I’m very proud of that. When somebody sees me for the first time, in their mind they say, “okay, this is a Chinese guy.” I always say, “I stand before you as a follicly, chronologically, and vertically challenged American by choice—short, bald, old immigrant.” That’s your first impression of me. I accept that; I can’t change that. But if you see me again and again, and you get to know me, if you still see that, I’ve got a problem because I haven’t done my job. When you see me the second, third, or fourth time, I would like you to remember me, to think of me as a great CFO, a great accountant, a great financial manager. So, therefore, even though we all look different, we are more similar than you realize. Let us work together, let us form  a good team, and let us bring America to the 21st Century, and be successful and be prosperous. Thank you very much for this opportunity. Thank you very much.

Thomas Tam: Our conference is coming to a close. I want to take time to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you for making this conference possible. If you’re interested in finding out all the information about the Asian American Asian Research Institute, please visit our website, www.aaari.info. I want to thank our co-sponsors: the Committee of 100, Ms. Alice Wong, Kathy Lee. Please give them a big hand. And the Chinese Association for Science and Business, Dr. Daxi Li. Please give them a big hand. The White House Initiative for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Mr. Eddy Badrina and Ms. Betty Wu. Please give them a very big hand. And Betty reminded me, how can you forget Erik Wang? Please give Erik a hand. And last, but not least, I want to thank the Weissman Center and Terry Martell for being such a great host and giving us all this food and the stage. Please give them a very big hand.

Betty Lee Sung: Our Executive Director has thanked all our co-sponsors and all the participants, but I want everybody to give Tom Tam a big hand for the excellent work he has done in organizing this conference. So, I had the first word in opening this conference, and I’ll have the last word. Thank you all for coming.