ALAN R. TURLEY, U.S. Embassy

Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs

Alan Turley is the Minister-Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan. He leads a team of 36 U.S. Commercial Service professionals in Tokyo and Osaka that is dedicated to promoting closer trade and economic ties between the United States and Japan. The CS Japan team promotes U.S. exports to Japan, encourages Japanese direct investment into the United States, works to improve the trade and investment climate in Japan and advises the leadership in the Department of Commerce on trade-policy issues regarding the bilateral commercial relationship.

Prior returning to Tokyo, Mr. Turley was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for China and Mongolia in Washington D.C., where he was responsible for International Trade Administration (ITA) programs in those markets. From 2002 to 2016, Mr. Turley was Vice President for International Affairs in Asia Pacific for FedEx Express. Twice a winner of FedEx’s coveted “Five Star Award”, Mr. Turley helped manage FedEx’s rapid growth and expansion in Asia, including the building of China’s first international air express hub, the founding of FedEx’s wholly-owned operations in China, and the approval of FedEx’s purchase of TNT Express.

Mr. Turley’s previous service in the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service started in 1986 in Japan, where he headed the Major Projects and Transportation Equipment Unit. Mr. Turley then served as the Director of the Commercial Service's International Marketing Center at the U.S.

Embassy in London before moving back to Asia to become Deputy Senior Commercial Officer at the American Institute in Taiwan. From 1996 to 2000, Mr. Turley was the Minister-Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and after that service he returned to Japan to serve in the same capacity at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

Alan Turley was educated in public schools in Cheshire Connecticut and was graduated from the University of Virginia with High Honors in 1983. After receiving his B.A., Mr. Turley spent two years studying Chinese in Taiwan at National Taiwan Normal University's Mandarin Training Center.