U.S. Senior Official to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

U.S. Department of State

Matt Murray currently serves as the U.S. Senior Official for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). In this role, he coordinates the United States’ active engagement and participation in APEC while also overseeing the Office of Economic Policy in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. In 2023, he was nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as U.S. Senior Official for APEC. During the U.S. APEC host year in 2023, Ambassador Murray is spearheading the advancement of U.S. APEC’s work across a wide range of policy domains and an economic policy agenda that benefits workers, businesses, and families in the United States and across the APEC region. Prior to his current role, Ambassador Murray served in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Trade Policy and Negotiations from September 2020 to August 2021 and as Senior Bureau Official from August 2021 to January 2022. Throughout his career at the State Department, Ambassador Murray has focused on fostering U.S. economic engagement with the Indo-Pacific region, including serving as Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, Counselor for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, and Special Assistant in the Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment, as well as earlier diplomatic postings in Shanghai, Beijing, Dar es Salaam, and New Delhi. From 2016 to 2018, Ambassador Murray also served as Director of the 24/7 Watch in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He holds a master’s degree from the U.S. Army War College and the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s degree from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.