2023 Benjamin Joy Winners Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 18, 2023
Contact: Office of Public Affairs
Email: publicaffairs@trade.gov
Phone: (202) 482-3809
WASHINGTON – The 2023 Benjamin Joy Award, given jointly by the U.S. Departments of Commerce and State, was presented by Arun Venkataraman, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, and Ramin Toloui, Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, at an awards ceremony at the U.S. Department of Commerce on July 11.
The Benjamin Joy Award recognizes outstanding examples of interagency collaboration that benefit U.S. companies abroad and advance our economic and commercial agenda. This year’s winners, Embassy of Ljubljana, Slovenia and Embassy of San Jose, Costa Rica, demonstrated outstanding joint State and Commerce leadership to level the playing field for U.S. companies, catalyzing opportunities in the healthcare equipment and digital infrastructure sectors, respectively. The finalists were both U.S. Department of Commerce Foreign Commercial Service Officers as well as State Department Foreign Service Officers from posts around the world, including Belgium, Poland, Costa Rica, Slovenia, Namibia and Tunisia.
The award’s namesake, Benjamin Joy, was an early exemplar of U.S. commercial and economic diplomacy, appointed in 1792 by President George Washington as the first American Consul and Commercial Agent to India. Today, there are over 200 U.S. diplomatic outposts helping to strengthen America’s economic and commercial relationships around the world.
About the International Trade Administration
The International Trade Administration (ITA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce is the premier resource for American companies competing in the global marketplace. Operating in more than 100 U.S. locations and 80 markets worldwide, ITA promotes trade and investment, assists U.S. businesses and workers to export and expand globally, and ensures fair trade and compliance by enforcing U.S. trade laws and agreements. For more information on ITA, visit www.trade.gov.
