ISLAMABAD: The United States Department of State on Tuesday announced the appointment of Dilawar Syed as the new Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs, a Pakistani-American businessman and entrepreneur.
“The Department of State is pleased to announce Dilawar Syed as the new Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs. Special Representative Syed brings a strong background in business and entrepreneurship, having built global enterprises in the fields of technology, healthcare, and business services,” the State Department announced in a statement on Tuesday.
It added that Special Representative Syed will also draw on his experience working at the federal and state levels to advance commercial and economic policies that benefit American workers and businesses.
In the Obama administration, Syed played an active role in promoting the State Department’s Global Entrepreneurship Program and connecting Silicon Valley innovators with emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems.
As the founding Chair of the California Entrepreneurship Task Force, Special Representative Syed drove inclusive entrepreneurship that bridged coastal regions with the state’s rural heartland and helped small businesses struggling with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Serving in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, the Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs advances trade, commercial, and economic policies for America’s workers and the middle-class tohelp create well-paying jobs and strengthen our communities.
“Special Representative Syed will lead efforts to support the export activities of US companies through approved commercial advocacy and to create and advance a level playing field for US workers and companies overseas,” the statement added.
Earlier on March 3, 2021, US President Joe Biden appointed Dilawar Syed to serve as Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA). Dilawar Syed is president and CEO at Lumiata, an AI for healthcare company focused on reducing healthcare costs and improving patient outcomes.
Previously, Syed was president at Freshworks where he helped scale the software company’s products to thousands of small and medium businesses. Syed has driven civic efforts at the federal, state, and local level focusing on economic growth and entrepreneurship. As the founding chair of California Entrepreneurship Task Force with the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, Dilawar drives inclusive entrepreneurship bridging coastal regions with the state’s rural heartland.
He served on President Obama’s White House Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and chaired the White House Initiative on AAPIs’ Economic Growth Committee. In that role, Syed led the administration’s engagement with small businesses across the US after the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Syed also served as a liaison with the Small Business Administration and the Department of Commerce on federal initiatives such as the President’s Export Council.
Syed holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and earned a BA in Economics and Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin. Syed immigrated to the United States from Pakistan as a freshman student to attend The College of Wooster in Ohio.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022