The United States is to launch a forum to promote security of largely American businesses in Asia amid concerns on issues ranging from copyright piracy to terrorism threats, officials said. The forum, pushed for by US companies in the region, will be inaugurated this week under the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), a public-private partnership run by the State Department's law enforcement and security arm.
The Pan-Asia Regional Council will be "an information sharing platform to work with the private sector to ensure they have the information needed to make their operations safe and secure," OSAC executive director Todd Brown told AFP.
The Asian council is aimed at protecting the interests of business groups, non-governmental organisations, educational institutions and faith-based bodies.
"It is a more focused entity to deal specifically with challenges in the Far East," said Brown, a special agent with the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which is responsible for, among other functions, protecting 285 US diplomatic missions abroad.
The Asian forum was set up following requests from business groups in the region striving to address concerns on issues such as intellectual property rights, natural disasters, political instability and terrorism, he said.
"You could make a case that there is some increase in such concerns," Brown pointed out.
Multinational companies in Asia "face many challenges, potential risks," said Tom Seaney, credit card giant Visa Inc's head of global security and safety. On the terrorism threat, he said, it was evident particularly in Southeast Asia, India and Pakistan.
"Our foremost concern is for the well-being of our employees, whether they are in-country nationals, expatriates or travellers," Seaney told AFP.
"And naturally, we need to protect investments in physical assets and operations and support business continuity in the event of a significant incident," he said.
In confronting the terrorism challenge, Brown said American companies were interested in greater protection of their facilities and "better understanding of the type of threats." Copyright piracy involving American goods is also growing in Asia, according to business groups.
The regional forum will help business security professionals with "best practices," such as screening of employees of US companies to guard against the "insider threat," Brown said. "US companies employ a lot of people in other countries, they want to be sure that they are employing loyal personnel," he said.
The companies could, for example, discuss ways to tighten employee vetting measures and seek to work more closely with host governments for copyright protection, he said.
The Asian forum will be based in San Francisco, California - home to numerous multinational companies and academic institutions with major economic, personnel and branding interests in Asia, especially China and India.
It also provides a channel for private sector security staff to collaborate with diplomatic security service personnel in a specific region, Seaney said.
They can "share on-ground experiences and country/regional knowledge, benchmark incidents and risk mitigation measures, and build or enhance working relationships with regional US embassies," he said. OSAC's first regional forum was established in 2005 covering Latin America from Miami, Florida, and officials expect to adopt various "best practices" from there to deal with crisis situations in Asia.