The highest-ranking officer of the International Trade Administration visited Atlanta March 19 to underscore the U.S. Commerce Department’s support of the Global Cities Initiative to increase exports.
Francisco J. Sanchez, undersecretary for international trade at the Commerce Department, met with Metro Atlanta Chamber, city and locally posted federal officials to review the city’s efforts to increase exports.
Atlanta is one of five cities chosen to participate in the initiative this year along with Houston, Dallas, Denver and Mexico City. A forum about the initiative drew more than 200 attendees to the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Historic Academy of Medicine March 20.
The International Trade Administration, a branch of the Commerce Department, is responsible for promoting the administration’s National Export Initiative that aims at doubling U.S. exports by the end of 2014.
The Commerce Department and the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, have partnered on the initiative to help raise awareness about the importance of exports to companies in their jurisdictions and to the country’s overall economy.
In an interview with Global Atlanta, Mr. Sanchez reviewed the arguments in favor of companies adopting vigorous export programs because “95 percent of the world’s consumers are outside our borders,” and “80 percent of the world’s economic growth is taking place outside of our borders.”
He also emphasized the important roles that the government’s 70 offices overseas and its 100 offices in cities across the U.S. can play in assisting companies find overseas markets.
Among these he cited the Atlanta U.S. Export Assistance Center, which houses the U.S. Commercial Service, and representatives from the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Export-Import Bank, as well as from the University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center. And two floors up in the Centergy Building in Midtown is the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Trade Office.
When asked whether the initiative is aimed more at small- to medium-sized companies, he replied that they are important but the larger companies shouldn’t be excluded.
Since he assumed his current post in 2009, he has strengthened the administration’s capabilities to advocate on behalf of U.S. companies, no matter what their size, with foreign governments.
But, he added, the administration also is focused on assisting small- to medium-sized companies and cited several examples of support such companies have received from the Ex-Im Bank.
He began his visit here to Suniva Inc. in Norcross, a manufacturer of photovoltaic solar modules with which he has been acquainted for several years and even accompanied on a trip to India.
He said that Suniva, which was launched in a Georgia Tech incubator, represents U.S. innovation and the powerful cross pollination that can occur when academia and business work together to commercialize products.
The company also provides an example of the sort of support the government can provide. In January, the Ex-Im Bank announced that it would guarantee a $780,000 10-year loan to be made by UPS Capital Business Credit to finance the export of Suniva modules to a rooftop solar-project of Grupo Metal Intra S.A.P.I. de C.V..
Innovation remains central to the country’s competitiveness, he added, citing the example of a manufacturer in Louisville, Ky., that has been able to under price Chinese competitors of materials used in white boards and coasters.
The Global Cities Initiative, he added, seeks to bring together the local civic, national government, academic and local economic development resources together to promote exports.
A key player can be the bi-national chambers of commerce, which enhance U.S. competitiveness through their talent and through the foreign direct investment that they attract.
Foreign direct investment, which he said is responsible for creating 5 million U.S. jobs, also can be a boon to exporting, he added.
His favorite example is that of the five Toyota plants in the U.S., which exported last year 100,000 vehicles including a percentage to Korea.
Mr. Sanchez encouraged representatives of companies that are interested in either expanding their imports or determining whether they are ready to export to contact the U.S. Export Assistance Center’s director, Donald Nay.
Mr. Nay’s career history includes stints as the Commerce Department’s director for East Asia and Pacific region as well as serving with the Commercial Service for 20 years overseas in the Netherlands, South Africa, India and Vietnam.
