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Trade Winds Asia 2013

May 10, 2013

Francisco J. Sánchez is the Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade.

Logo for Trade Winds Asia, a business development conference in Southwest Asia May 9 through 17, 2013.

Trade Winds missions have led to nearly $110 million in reported export successes.

One thing we understand in international trade is the importance of partnerships.

Asia has been a great partner to American business and offers immense opportunities for companies looking to expand into new markets. As the 2013 Trade Winds Asia mission goes on through May 19, U.S. businesses will learn about opportunities in a wide range of industry sectors across many regions in Asia.

It’s a great event for World Trade Month as we continue to promote U.S. goods and services around the world.

The mission visits five major cities in the Asian market: Hong Kong, Manila, Seoul, Taipei, and Tokyo. These cities represent regions with expanding global sales potential for U.S. business, and play a major part in our recent export success.

  • The United States exported more than $387 billion of goods to Asia in 2012;
  • The top three export categories were computer and electronic products, chemicals, and transportation equipment;
  • U.S. exports to Hong Kong have more than doubled since 2005;
  • Exports to Japan have increased every year since 2009; and
  • U.S. exports to countries with which we have trade agreements, including Korea, increased by 5.8 percent in 2012.

These figures show the great partnership we have with Asia, and the potential that remains for future business. The figures also represent jobs back here at home; $387 billion in merchandise exports to Asia supports nearly two million American jobs.

Trade Winds missions around the world contribute to export success. Companies who report back to us on their successes tell us they’ve achieved nearly $110 million in exports as a result of participating in Trade Winds missions.

I’m honored to lead this mission and I’m proud of the work my colleagues at the International Trade Administration have put in to making the mission as successful as possible. I am proud to be working with the business leaders participating in Trade Winds Asia – and I hope we can help many more on one of our upcoming missions.

Posted in Trade Missions, World Trade Month | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments »

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Celebrating a Strategy to Increase Travel and Tourism and Create Jobs

May 9, 2013

Ken Hyatt is the Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade.

2012 was a record year for travel and tourism in the United States. The industry generated $168.1 billion worth of U.S. exports, an impressive 10 percent increase over 2011, and supported 7.7 million jobs. Recognizing this sector’s potential to continue driving job growth, President Obama last year called for the creation of a National Travel and Tourism Strategy. Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the Strategy’s release.

The Strategy, co-led by the Departments of Commerce and Interior, is a comprehensive, government-wide approach to increase travel and tourism to and within the United States. Since its introduction, more than a dozen partner agencies have coordinated to enhance tourism promotion efforts, improve the visa application and entry experiences, and collaborate with the private sector – including BrandUSA – and state and local destinations in various ways. These and other activities are aimed at attracting 100 million annual visitors by the end of 2021, a 61 percent increase over 2011.

The Strategy is already bearing fruit. Two examples I would like to highlight are:

  • Our partners at the Department of State are expanding their consular facilities and streamlining their visa processes. As a result, nine out of ten visa applicants worldwide are now interviewed within three weeks of submitting applications. In some key markets, wait times have fallen to only a few days even as the number of applications increases.
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have launched programs to reduce screening and entry processing times for domestic and international passengers alike. CBP’s Global Entry program is now available at 44 airports, while TSA’s Pre Check is present at 40.

Improvements like these have made the visitor experience better without compromising our security. While we take pride in successes like these, we recognize that more work remains to be done, especially given economic headwinds and fiscal challenges in some of the countries that send visitors to our shores.

Our nation offers domestic and international visitors a wealth of amazing tourism experiences. Those visitors, in turn, spend hundreds of billions of dollars right here in the United States and contribute to our national efforts to create jobs here at home. I invite you to review the Strategy as we celebrate National Travel and Tourism Week (May 4-12) and let us know how your community can play its part.

Posted in Service Industries, Travel and Tourism, World Trade Month | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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Commerce-Supported Student Recruitment Group Opens Office in Vietnam

May 8, 2013

John Siegmund is an International Trade Specialist in the International Trade Administration’s Office of Services.

The VETEC team talked about its mission at the Association of International Educators.

The VETEC team talked about its mission at the Association of International Educators conference.

United States colleges and universities are one step closer to garnering a bigger share of the education market for Vietnamese students with the official recognition of the Vietnamese Education Training and Export Center (VETEC).

The initiative is part of a Market Development Cooperator Program award (MDCP) between the International Trade Administration (ITA) and the California Education and Training Export Center.

VETEC offers a broad variety of services to Vietnamese students and U.S. colleges and universities, all with the goal of increasing the number of Vietnamese studying in the United States. VETEC operates an office in Vietnam, which ITA supported with an MDCP award of $388,000 in 2011.

“Vietnam has been among the fastest growing source countries for overseas study in the United States during the past four years,” says VETEC Director Mark Matsumoto. “It has the potential to become one of the three most significant export markets in the world for U.S. education and training service exports within the next 10 years.”

VETEC is ideally located to help both U.S. institutions of higher learning and Vietnamese students. The office will open up new and effective ways to promote the benefits offered by U.S. colleges and universities to Vietnamese students and their families.

“VETEC was designed to provide U.S. schools an on-the-ground resource in Vietnam to actively engage students and parents in Vietnam,” added Matsumoto.

Education comprises a large portion of American exports in the service industry. In 2012, education accounted for nearly $23 billion in U.S. exports.

In 2011-2012, more than 15,000 students from Vietnam enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, making the United States the eighth-largest host market for Vietnamese students. Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) reported that as of December 2012, 106,000 Vietnamese students were studying abroad.

VETEC will offer the following services:

  • Year-round promotion of U.S. educational opportunities in Vietnam
  • High-impact advertising campaigns and promotions
  • On-site student advising and counseling
  • Facilitation of institutional contacts and exchange
  • Translation and interpretation support
  • Coordination of in-country logistics and meeting schedules
  • Other services as needs arise

For more information go to www.californiaetec.com and www.vetecusa.com.

Posted in Education, Service Industries | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Private Sector Council Provides Feedback on Manufacturing Initiatives

May 3, 2013

Michael Laszkiewicz is the Chair of the 2013 Manufacturing Council. He is the Vice President and General Manager of Rockwell Automation.File photo of workers building a car.

Innovation.

Workforce development.

Export promotion.

Greater support for small and medium-size manufacturers.

And most of all, competitiveness.

Those were the key issues that 23 representatives of the manufacturing community discussed in the initial meeting of the newly appointed 2013 Manufacturing Council, on which I serve as chairperson.

The Council is the principal private sector advisory committee to the Secretary of Commerce on the manufacturing industry. It is composed of representatives from large and small manufacturers from across the U.S., representing an array of industries ranging from automotive parts to chemicals to superconductors.

The Council will meet four times this year to advise the Secretary of Commerce on the challenges facing manufacturing, and provide input on the Obama Administration’s manufacturing initiatives.

As professionals in the field, we know and understand the issues affecting manufacturing. We care about the future of the manufacturing sector and we’re proud to have a voice to provide input on the Obama Administration’s initiatives.

While the issues we discussed aren’t new, we approach them with energy and enthusiasm, buoyed by the Administration’s renewed commitment to reinforce its efforts to strengthen U.S. manufacturing global competitiveness.

What do you think of the list of issues the Council is focusing on? If we could give the Administration one piece of advice on how to strengthen manufacturing, what should it be?

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Celebrating World Trade Throughout May

May 1, 2013

Francisco J. Sánchez is the Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade.

May brings warmer weather, longer days, and, most importantly for us at the Department of Commerce, World Trade Month. For years, this has been a special time to reflect on the importance of trade to our nation’s economic well-being.

Over the past few months, we’ve discussed what an important year 2012 was for exports and our  economy: a record-setting $2.2 trillion in overall exports, 10 percent annual growth in tourism-related exports, and 9.8 million U.S. jobs supported by exports.

World Trade Month is an occasion to recognize the past year’s successes while looking ahead to new ways to expand exports and build a stronger economy. It’s a month for us to recognize what we know all year long: that exports are a key to our long-term economic health.

The month of May will provide many opportunities to do just that. Events and observances to look out for include:

  • National Travel and Tourism Week, a celebration of that industry’s contributions to the U.S. economy, will take place from May 4-12.
  • On May 16, the Small Business Administration and Denver U.S. Export Assistance Center will co-sponsor the 40th Annual World Trade Day.
  • May 19 will bring the start of World Trade Week, a tradition dating back to 1927 and marked by a Presidential proclamation.
  • During that week, the President’s annual “E” Awards will be presented to leading U.S. exporters.

Have a question about getting started in exporting? Twitter chats throughout the month will offer chances to learn about exporting and pose questions to government agencies involved in President Obama’s National Export Initiative.

World Trade Month Updates:

We invite you to check this post or our World Trade Month category for regular updates on these and other events. You can also visit our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter.

As we kick off World Trade Month 2013, our team looks forward to continuing to support our nation’s exporters as they build things here and sell them everywhere.

Posted in World Trade Month | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

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Long Term Opportunities for U.S. Companies in Egypt

April 29, 2013

This post contains external links. Please review our external linking policy.

Anne Novak and Nancy Luther are Project Officers for the Department of Commerce’s Trade Mission to Egypt.

Acting Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade Ken Hyatt (center) poses with participants in the Egypt trade mission.

Acting Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade Ken Hyatt (center) poses with participants in the Egypt trade mission.

The April 2013 U.S. Department of Commerce Business Development Mission to Egypt reaffirmed the U.S. private sector’s continued interest in the Egyptian market. Led by Acting Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade Ken Hyatt, the mission built on the positive trade relations between the countries.

After two days of meetings with private sector and governmental counterparts, the U.S. delegation of companies in the alternative energy, infrastructure, and safety and security sectors came away optimistic about long-term commercial and investment opportunities in Egypt.

The largest country in the Arab world with a population of more than 80 million, Egypt has historically been an attractive market for U.S. firms seeking to do business in the region. Long-term prospects remain good; American brands are highly visible, and U.S. products and technology are respected.

The International Trade Administration’s office in Cairo, headed by Regional Senior Commercial Officer Ann Bacher, arranged more than 100 customized business-to-business and business-to-government meetings.

Hyatt also held a range of bilateral meetings with key government officials, including Under Secretary Mohamed Omran of the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, who welcomed more involvement from U.S. companies in power generation projects as well as in technical training on managing power plants.

U.S.-Egyptian cooperation in electrical and solar energy projects was a key topic of discussion throughout the mission. U.S. businesses on the mission—with their innovative technologies and services—are well-positioned to support Egypt’s electrical and alternative energy projects.

This mission opened doors for new business opportunities for U.S. companies and continued Commerce’s efforts to strengthen bilateral economic and commercial relationships with the Egyptian Government.

This is the second group of U.S. businesses Hyatt has led to Egypt over the last seven months. In September 2012 he accompanied a U.S. Chamber of Commerce delegation of more than 50 U.S. companies exploring the Egyptian market.

A trade mission could be a key step to helping your business compete overseas. Your next customers could live in one of the countries we’ll be visiting on an upcoming mission.

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Exporting Entertainment to China and Asia-Pacific: It’s a Wrap!

April 25, 2013

This post contains external links. Please review our external linking policy.

Andrea DaSilva is the Senior Media & Entertainment Analyst for the International Trade Administration.

The Hong Kong Trade Filmart attendees gather around the U.S.A. pavilion.Development Council recently hosted Filmart, the third largest film industry trade show after Cannes and American Film Market in Santa Monica, Cali.

U.S. exhibitors secured film licensing and distribution deals to the tune of $8 million and counting, supporting American exports and bringing some of our most creative exports to new audiences.

U.S. Secured 175 Licensing Deals Worth $8 Million

The International Trade Administration and the Independent Film and Television Alliance co-sponsored the American Pavilion as part of the Market Development Cooperator Program, with cooperation from the Pacific Bridge Initiative.

Buyers from around the region came to purchase U.S. filmed entertainment, which is nothing new; American movies continue to be in high demand globally. China’s State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television reports that seven of the top ten films in China last year were American.

Hong Kong Filmart provides an ideal gateway to reach China and Southeast Asia, especially for small and independent businesses based in the United States who can’t afford to hang their shingle in China.

China’s Film Industry – Expanding Rapidly

China’s entertainment market is growing, and with it demand for new content. Hollywood studios and small producers alike are increasingly partnering with Chinese industry or governmental bodies to bring U.S. films to the Chinese market.

PThe U.S.A. pavilion at Filmart 2013 in Hong Kong.roduction houses like Dreamworks, Marvel Comics, Warner Brothers, Relativity Media, and Legendary Pictures, to mention a few, all have joint projects with Chinese partners and their presence in China is contributing to the development of the country’s film and animation industries, while also increasing U.S. exports. It’s a dramatic shift from past decades when the doors were closed for business; the U.S. industry has a solid foot in the door today.

China’s Box Office – Exploding

China boasts the second-largest box office revenues worldwide at $2.7 billion in 2012, a 30.2 percent increase over 2011. Foreign films accounted for 52.4 percent of box office ticket sales in the country last year, but constituted only about a quarter of the 303 movies screened in Chinese theaters.

These exports aren’t just good for the film industry, they help support one of our most creative industries and help support American jobs.

Posted in Service Industries | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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