MBITA welcomes new member Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO)

AZPROMO is a public/private initiative that aims to increase the FDI volume into non-energy sectors of economy in Azerbaijan, and to stimulate the strengthening and expansion of the country's non-hydrocarbon export capacities.

MBITA New Member Transmetrics

In President Barack Obama's 2010 State of the Union address, he introduced NEI's (National Export Initiative) goal of doubling U.S. exports in five years.

Such an accomplishment fueled by international trade education would definitely invigorate the domestic economic recovery, and help produce and sustain new jobs in the local market. Based on the study conducted by the Small Business Administration, companies engaged in international trade are 20 % more productive per worker, pay about 10%-15% more in salaries, and are 9% more likely to stay financially solvent. With two-thirds of the world's purchasing power located outside the U.S., exporting could help businesses expand from U.S. market of 300 million consumers to a global market of more than six billion consumers.

The U.S. economy increasingly depends on globally-minded professionals who have acquired the right skill sets, knowledge and experience through international trade education. Because of technological advances in communication and ever-growing cross border flow of capital, talent, goods and services, foreign trade is growing at a faster pace. There has been strong demand on the part of companies to hire people who can conduct business beyond U.S. borders and help them to compete in the international marketplace.

Community colleges are the most cost-effective and flexible tool in training and developing a global business workforce. They have the unique ability to craft courses that meet the dual needs of the college credit and workplace knowledge and skill development at the same time. Even though two-thirds of community colleges have international business programs in place, we need college-business partnerships to pursue a more ambitious, comprehensive mission to expand its curriculum and programs in global business to equip students with much needed skills to compete in the hyper-connected world.

Community college administrators must design courses aimed at enhancing both students' and aspiring global entrepreneurs' proficiency in exports/imports and foreign language expertise, as well as focus on the professional development programs that prepare teams to work in a particular world region for their future employers.

In this era of globalization, community college and business partnerships are crucial when it comes to educating world-class workforces for businesses to grow and expand in overseas markets. Advantages for companies include reduced training costs, improved employee satisfaction, increased productivity and profit. The benefit for community colleges is that they can generate additional revenue in fulfilling their mission of putting together quality programs despite cutbacks in government funding.

Other promising partnerships between community colleges and businesses are:

The college's "Center for Global Business Initiative." The center focuses on mastering a particular knowledge pertaining to imports and exports, and providing insight to international marketing strategies. The students perform all the tasks involved.

Apprenticeship Program: College for Free and a Paycheck.

Central Piedmont Community College and Siemens Energy in Charlotte, NC is testament of a 12-year-old partnership program that can be very well applied in the international trade arena as well. Here's how it works: The students work at Siemens while attending Central Piedmont Community College. Siemen's pays for each student's tuition costs, while participants earn a paycheck and receive intensive company-specific technical training and hands-on experience.

Community colleges are a remarkable resource of international trade education in preparing a better-educated and more highly-skilled workforce for businesses to promote exports and contribute to the nation's economic recovery.

1. U.S. exporter fails to win new sales contracts or loses existing Latin American clients because other foreign competitors are willing to provide the Latin American buyer with open account terms. Some Latin American companies pay more just to get 30 or 60-day open account terms.

2. U.S. exporter sells less to a Latin American client. One Latin American company interviewed stated that it would purchase four times as much from its U.S. supplier if it was given 90-day terms rather than having to pay cash in advance.

3. U.S. exporter loses medium term sales contract because a foreign competitor assists the Latin American buyer in achieving better financing terms.

While it is prudent for U.S. exporters to insist on secure payment terms, it pays for them to consider the broad variety of payment terms available to them in order to become as competitive as possible.

Read full article and download a full guide to identify the main financing and payment mechanisms available to support U.S. exporters selling to Latin America in general and to understand the costs, advantages, and disadvantages of each mechanism.

This article is published by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Ex-Im Bank Authorizes $130 Million To Finance Export of U.S.-Manufactured Aircraft and Engines to Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopia mapThe Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has authorized nearly $130 million in financing to support the export of Boeing long-range aircraft and installed GE-90 engines to Ethiopian Airlines.

The transaction will support an estimated 700 American jobs in the aircraft and aircraft-engine manufacturing industry, according to an Ex-Im Bank estimate derived from U.S. Departments of Commerce and Labor data and methodology.

Ex-Im Bank Chairman Fred P. Hochberg announced the transaction in Addis Ababa. Hochberg was in Ethiopia conducting meetings with government and business leaders as part of a week-long business development trip to India, Ethiopia and South Africa.

"Ex-Im Bank is pleased to add another transaction in our successful partnership with Ethiopian Airlines, which is supporting hundreds of jobs in the U.S. aerospace industry. This transaction also demonstrates the tremendous potential of Africa for U.S. exporters," said Ex-Im Bank Chairman Fred P. Hochberg. "Our financing of high-quality, 'Made in the USA' aircraft and engines is also helping Ethiopian Airlines continue to expand its service throughout Africa and beyond the continent."

From 2003 through 2013, Ex-Im Bank has approved more than $2.2 billion to finance exports of U.S.-manufactured aircraft and aircraft engines to Ethiopian Airlines. In May 2012, Ex-Im Bank authorized financing to support 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to Ethiopian Airlines. Four of the aircraft were funded through a capital-markets bond issuance in November 2012.

National Export

Initiative (NEI) Update

WASHINGTON-U.S. Under Secretary for International Trade Francisco Sanchez highlighted new data that show spending by international visitors to the United States in April 2013 totaled nearly $14.5 billion, an increase of more than 5 percent when compared to April 2012. International visitors have spent an estimated $57.9 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related services year to date in 2013 (January through April), an increase of 8 percent when compared to the same period last year.

Travel and tourism-related industries as a whole support nearly 7.7 million American jobs. President Obama's National Travel and Tourism Strategy, which was announced last year, aims to attract more than 100 million international tourists per year by 2021, visitors that would spend an estimated $250 billion per year, supporting more jobs and spurring economic growth in communities across the country.

Increasing U.S. travel and tourism will not come at the expense of national security. The President's plan for common sense immigration reform includes a number of proposals to support his commitment to increasing U.S. travel and tourism while maintaining our nation's security. Specifically, the President's immigration proposal reforms the Visa Waiver Program to strengthen law enforcement cooperation while facilitating more efficient trade and tourism to the United States, securely streamlines visa and foreign visitor processing, and strengthens and improves infrastructure at ports of entry. These priorities are reflected in recently introduced bipartisan immigration reform legislation, which the entire U.S. Senate is currently debating.

Working with KLA-Tencor Corporation of California and other semiconductor equipment manufacturers, the Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration (ITA) persuaded the EU to clarify the scope of its revised Directive on the restriction of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS II). A narrow interpretation of the Directive regarding spare parts would have cost KLA hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, but a Commerce-wide advocacy effort encouraged the EU to clarify that spare parts for large-scale machines fall outside of the scope of RoHS II.

A Canadian colleague and long-time friend recently asked me for marketing advice around how to create a successful international brand. My friend is a Chief Operating Officer who just joined a new venture with a young manager heading up the marketing effort. The marketing manager is highly concerned about developing a new logo and perhaps needs to widen his perspective of developing the venture's brand. Generally, I would define a brand as a customer's perception of a company based on their cumulative experiences with that company. This may include what someone has heard from a secondary source; what is published in media; any marketing, product or service usage; and any continued follow-up in customer service or sales. In the case of companies with widely diverse products and multiple industries, the brand would break down somewhat by industry (ex. General Electric)

Great international brands in any industry are carefully built over time. As with most aspects of marketing strategy, it starts with the end in mind. What do you want your brand to be in five or 10 years? What value do you want your clients to perceive from their cumulative experiences of not only using your products and services, but in all of their interactions with your company? What adjectives would you want your clients and other stakeholders to use when describing your brand? Does the brand need to have the same reaction across all of your markets? International brands need even more attention to cultivation than domestic brands due to the complexities of multiple cultures, languages, legal systems, etc.