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Issue: 1149 Date: 8/30/2012
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WORLD TRADE CENTER ST. LOUIS AND SENATOR BOND TO LEAD TRADE TRIP TO CHINA
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St. Louis, MO (August 22, 2012) - The World Trade Center St. Louis (WTC), former U.S. Senator Kit Bond and the Kit Bond Strategies (KBS) team, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, and the St. Louis County Economic Council President & CEO Denny Coleman, today announced an upcoming trade mission to China to help the region's businesses tap into one of the world's largest economies.
"Expanding on the concept of St. Louis as the Gateway to the East can be a major economic development win for Missouri's businesses, people and economy, and trade missions to China like this fall trip will grow past successes and build new ones," said Kit Bond, Chairman of Kit Bond Strategies. "This trip will help expand markets for Midwest products and open up new opportunities for Missourians."
"Recent export data reinforces the significance of China and larger Asia as a market for St. Louis and Missouri companies. This trade mission is one more concrete example of the WTC Asia Trade Desk preparing and guiding St. Louis companies to successfully enter these important global markets," said Tim Nowak, Executive Director of World Trade Center St. Louis.
"Opening up doors to trade in China is incredibly important to our local businesses. We've seen research showing there are many St. Louis companies that could grow by exporting internationally," said St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley. "I'm glad World Trade Center St. Louis and Kit Bond Strategies are taking proactive steps to make that a reality."
"Recent trade missions have been extremely successful because of the high-level connections companies have made in just a few short days," said Denny Coleman, President and CEO of St. Louis County Economic Council. "These trade missions are about growing relationships. We can never underestimate the value of taking the time to make these personal connections."
The upcoming trade mission to China will be made up of small, medium, and large businesses and universities in the St. Louis region. The diverse group will be composed of companies from the agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, energy, construction, chemical, medical, financial, technology and education sectors, which play a key role in the region's, Missouri's, and the nation's, economy. Over the course of the trip, the group will be meeting with government and business leaders in Beijing, the capitol city; Shanghai, the center of imports and exports for China; Hangzhou, a financial and industry hub; and Nanjing, St. Louis' Sister City.
This trade trip to China is the latest effort by the WTC, KBS, local and state officials to guarantee Missourians are not left on the sidelines and instead harness the economic benefits of one the United States' most important bilateral partners. Already, China is the State's third largest export market. And with the United States and China representing the two largest economies in the world and two of the largest countries in population, strengthening economic and people-to-people ties is critical.
Also, this trip will help ensure Missouri's impressive export numbers continue on the right trajectory. According to data recently released from the U.S. Department of Commerce, exports from Missouri grew to $7.5 billion in the first six months of the year, up 5.8 percent from the same period in 2011. Exports to Asia are central in this success - growing more than 24 percent in the first half of the year. These impressive numbers demonstrate the effectiveness of Missouri's export initiatives, including WTC and KBS-led trade missions.
WTC and KBS' experience in China and extensive contacts with leaders across the region will ensure delegation participants have a unique opportunity, including top-level access to decision-makers. For years, KBS team members and the WTC have worked together to make St. Louis home of the Midwest China Hub, developing close relationships with top level Chinese officials. Also, traveling to China since the late 1970's, as Governor and as a U.S. Senator, Kit Bond has led dozens of delegations to the region and hosted many from China to Missouri. As a former Vice Chairman of the US China Interparliamentary Group, Bond helped develop several business and government bilateral cooperative agreements. Tim Nowak also has extensive experience in business development, domestic and international sales in the region and is currently a board member of the Midwest China Hub Commission.
The St. Louis regional delegation to China later this fall will be the second trade mission partnership between the WTC and KBS in 2012. Earlier this year, the WTC and KBS led a group to Indonesia, with participating businesses and universities already seeing the benefits. The trade mission also saw success before the group even returned home, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by the St. Louis World Trade Center and the American and Indonesian Chambers of Commerce to boost trade and investment.
Space is limited, but companies interested in participating in the China trade mission can find more information and a registration application on the World Trade Center St. Louis website at
http://www.worldtradecenter-stl.com . |
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