Jon Huntsman, Jr., who most recently was a candidate for the Republican nomination of the president of the U.S., will deliver the keynote address at the formal Opening Gala of the NPE2012 international plastics exposition, it was announced today by SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, which produces the triennial NPE.

Taking place in Orlando, FL on the evening of Sunday, April 1, the Opening Gala will celebrate the 75th anniversary of SPI and the 50th anniversary of the Plastics Hall of Fame. Ten plastics industry leaders will be inducted into the Hall of Fame during the event. On the following day, April 2, the NPE2012 exhibit halls and conferences will open at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.

Huntsman served as U.S. Ambassador to Singapore and China, and was twice elected governor of the state of Utah. In addition to his career in public service, Jon Huntsman, Jr. held leadership positions in Huntsman Corp., the multibillion-dollar global plastics and chemical company his father founded. Jon Huntsman, Sr. was inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame during NPE1994.

Gov. Huntsman has an extensive background in international affairs and trade negotiation. He has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Asia, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, and U.S. Trade Ambassador. He has negotiated dozens of free trade agreements and brokered other bi-lateral and multi-lateral trade agreements for the United States with China, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, India, Vietnam, West Africa, South Africa, and other Asian and African nations. He played a critical role in launching global trade negotiations in Doha, Qatar in November of 2001, guiding the simultaneous accession of China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization.

He is a founding director of the Pacific Council on International Policy and has served in senior positions with the Brookings Institute Asia Policy Board, the Center for Strategic and International Studies Pacific Forum, the Asia Society in New York, and the National Bureau of Asian Research. He has lived in Asia at four periods in his life and speaks fluent Mandarin.

The NPE2012 Opening Gala will be a formal event including a reception, banquet, Gov. Huntsman’s keynote address, and the Plastics Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Tickets cost US $300 per person and $2,200 for a table of eight. The event will take place from 5:30 to 9:45 p.m. in the Sebastian J Ballroom of the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando.