Dr. Orit Frenkel, member of APCO’s International Advisory Council, is the founder and President of Frenkel Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in government relations and policy issues in Asia and the CIS countries, trade policy, investment and market access issues, as well as training programs for foreign government officials.
Prior to starting Frenkel Strategies, Orit was the Senior Manager for GE Global Government Affairs for 26 years. In that position, she was responsible for advising the GE businesses on government relations, trade, investment and CSR issues in ASEAN, North and Central Asia, as well as in the CIS countries. Orit’s extensive experience working with US and foreign governments, as well as with a variety of stakeholders, resulted in billions of dollars of GE sales. She worked with U.S. and multilateral financing institutions to obtain financing for GE’s transactions.
Orit led GE’s policy and advocacy on TPP, KORUS, Russia and China WTO accession, Uruguay Round, NAFTA and other trade policy issues. She coordinated GE’s policy and strategy development, developed messaging and led coordination and consensus building among stakeholders in GE and the larger business community, trade associations, think tanks, and other stakeholders.
Orit organized numerous multi-day training programs for foreign government and private sector officials that GE hosted in the U.S., educating officials on U.S. government relations, investment regulations as well as specific issues, such as energy and digital policy.
She began her career working in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative where she was the Director for Trade in High Technology Products and Deputy Director for Trade with Japan, and spent a 9-month detail working for Congressman Lee Hamilton.
She is the author of several articles on trade policy issues, as well as a book on the negotiation of the US-Israel Free Trade Area. She is on the board of numerous trade associations and advisory panels.
Ms. Frenkel received a B.A. in Economics from University of Maryland (Phi Beta Kappa), an M.P.P. from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D.in International Economics from John Hopkins University.