Practice Expertise
Areas of Practice
- Service
Profile
Robert Vastine has served as the President of CSI since his appointment to that position in January, 1996. The 19-year-old Coalition, based in Washington D.C., represents the interests of the US service sector, which accounts for more than 75% of US economic activity and employment.
Since its founding, CSI has directed its efforts to expanding business opportunities for US service companies in foreign markets by removing barriers to their trade and investment, and to developing policymakers’ awareness of the increasingly important role services play in creating high quality US jobs, exports, and economic growth.
The Coalition represents a wide variety of service sector companies which operate globally and whose interests include financial services, insurance, information technology, accounting and other professional services, telecommunications, maritime transport, and travel and tourism. CSI led US private sector efforts in 1997 to achieve successful World Trade Organization Agreements on Financial Services, and Basic Telecommunications.
Prior to joining CSI, Vastine served in Washington as President of the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute, a bi-partisan, non-profit foundation which helps educate Congress on issues affecting US economic competitiveness. Mr. Vastine served for six years as Staff Director of the Senate Republican Conference. His extensive Capitol Hill experience also includes posts as Minority Staff Director of the Senate Committee on Government Affairs; Legislative Director for Senator John H. Chafee of Rhode Island; and Legislative Assistant for Congressman Thomas B. Curtis of Missouri.
Mr. Vastine’s Executive Branch experience includes service as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Trade and Raw Materials Policy under President Gerald Ford. He also served as Vice President of the Oversight Board of the Resolution Trust Corporation, which was chaired by Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas Brady.
In the private sector, Robert Vastine was Manager of National Government Affairs for CPC International, Inc., a major multinational food manufacturer headquartered in New Jersey. He founded the San Francisco, California-based Alliance for American Innovation, an association of small, high technology companies. In recognition of his work, California Governor Jerry Brown appointed Vastine to the state’s Advisory Commission on Economic Development.
Mr. Vastine is Chairman of the official Industry Sector Advisory Committee for International trade in Services.
Robert Vastine was a fellow of the Institute of Politics of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is co-author of The Kennedy Round and the Future of American Trade as well as articles on US trade policy.
Mr. Vastine is a graduate of Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania and of the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Since its founding, CSI has directed its efforts to expanding business opportunities for US service companies in foreign markets by removing barriers to their trade and investment, and to developing policymakers’ awareness of the increasingly important role services play in creating high quality US jobs, exports, and economic growth.
The Coalition represents a wide variety of service sector companies which operate globally and whose interests include financial services, insurance, information technology, accounting and other professional services, telecommunications, maritime transport, and travel and tourism. CSI led US private sector efforts in 1997 to achieve successful World Trade Organization Agreements on Financial Services, and Basic Telecommunications.
Prior to joining CSI, Vastine served in Washington as President of the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute, a bi-partisan, non-profit foundation which helps educate Congress on issues affecting US economic competitiveness. Mr. Vastine served for six years as Staff Director of the Senate Republican Conference. His extensive Capitol Hill experience also includes posts as Minority Staff Director of the Senate Committee on Government Affairs; Legislative Director for Senator John H. Chafee of Rhode Island; and Legislative Assistant for Congressman Thomas B. Curtis of Missouri.
Mr. Vastine’s Executive Branch experience includes service as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Trade and Raw Materials Policy under President Gerald Ford. He also served as Vice President of the Oversight Board of the Resolution Trust Corporation, which was chaired by Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas Brady.
In the private sector, Robert Vastine was Manager of National Government Affairs for CPC International, Inc., a major multinational food manufacturer headquartered in New Jersey. He founded the San Francisco, California-based Alliance for American Innovation, an association of small, high technology companies. In recognition of his work, California Governor Jerry Brown appointed Vastine to the state’s Advisory Commission on Economic Development.
Mr. Vastine is Chairman of the official Industry Sector Advisory Committee for International trade in Services.
Robert Vastine was a fellow of the Institute of Politics of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is co-author of The Kennedy Round and the Future of American Trade as well as articles on US trade policy.
Mr. Vastine is a graduate of Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania and of the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Areas of Practice
- Service
