GREEK AMBASSADOR FEATURED ON JANUARY 25 AT THE WTC

Amb. Mallias has served as Greece’s Ambassador to the United States since October 2005 and has had a long career in diplomacy. Since joining the Greek Foreign Service in 1976, Amb. Mallias has been at the forefront of Greece’s stabilizing role in the Balkans, serving as Director of the Southeastern Europe (Balkan Affairs) Department at the Foreign Ministry in Athens in various capacities, and as Ambassador to Albania, Head of the first Mission in FYROM, and Head of the European Community Monitor Mission Regional Office in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Amb. Mallias also served in Libya and at the Greek Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, as First Counselor for Political Affairs. He has participated in many negotiating teams, such as the Greek Delegation to the Charter of Paris for a New Europe (CSCE), Deputy Head of the delegation in 1990. Amb. Mallias has served in many other positions, including the Department of Middle East Affairs, the General Inspection Division, the Department of Western European Affairs, the Permanent Mission of Greece to the United Nations in Geneva, and as Public Affairs Officer at the Information Center for the European Community in Athens.

To register for the January 25 luncheon program, call the WTC at (504) 529-1601, ext. 222, or click here.

KOREAN AMBASSADOR TO SPEAK ON TRADE AGREEMENT WITH U.S.

Trade between the U.S. and Korea reached $78.3 billion in 2006. The U.S. is Korea’s number two trading partner, having recently been surpassed by China, which is now Korea’s main trading country. Korea is the seventh largest exporter to the U.S. and the fifth largest importer of U.S. agricultural products. Korea was Louisiana’s sixth largest export market in 2006 with total imports of $834 million from the state. U.S. investment in Korea totals $36 billion.
Amb. Lee has been the Republic of Korea’s Ambassador to the United States since November 2005. A career diplomat, he joined Korea's foreign service in 1973 and began his career with postings to Liberia, the Philippines, Austria, Yugoslavia, and the European Union. Prior to his current assignment in Washington, he served as Korea’s Ambassador to Israel, Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Seoul. Amb. Lee holds degrees in international relations from Seoul National University and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

AMB. JAMES JOSEPH TO SPEAK ON LEADERSHIP AND VALUES

Amb. Joseph, a former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, founded the Center for Leadership and Public Values at Duke University in 2002. The Center, in partnership with the College of Business at Southern University, will, over the next several years in response to the challenges created by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, recruit, train and provide reinforcing support for successive 25-member classes of Fellows. These will be women and men who are nominated by senior leaders in the business, non-profit and public sectors throughout Louisiana and are offered Fellowships based on competitive review of their applications. Fellows will be predominately African-American, mid-career leaders who are on fast tracks to senior positions in their fields and who demonstrate a sincere interest in understanding and applying universal moral values to their lives and work.

To register, call the WTC at (504) 529-1601, ext. 222, or click here.

WTC LANGUAGE CLASSES TO START ON JANUARY 21

EXPORT-IMPORT LUNCHEON WORKSHOP ON JANUARY 23

For those interested in learning more afterwards, an intensive four-session seminar series will be held in February at the JEDCO (Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission) offices at 3445 North Causeway Boulevard in Metairie. The series consists of four 4 ½-hour afternoon seminars (12:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.) to be held on February 18, 20, 25, and 27. To register for the complete series, call (504) 831-3730. For additional information, call the SBDC at (504) 568-8186.

FEBRUARY 18-27 FOUR-SESSION EXPORT/IMPORT SEMINAR

FRENCH CONSUL TO SPEAK AT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

LOUISIANA TRADE MISSION TO MALAYSIA MARCH 17-21

The trade mission is planned around the Offshore Asia 2008 trade show in Kuala Lumpur, and will include site visits and pre-arranged meetings with potential agents, distributors or JV partners, country/industry briefing, high level reception, and other group benefits. For more information, contact Delilah DeSouza at the U.S. Export Assistance Center, delilah.desouza@mail.doc.gov or (504) 915-3301.

CENTERAUSTRIA CELEBRATES TENTH ANNIVERSARY

OPPORTUNITIES FOR U.S. FIRMS IN MEXICO’S INFRASTRUCTURE

TRADE WINDS EUROPE TO BE HELD IN ISTANBUL APRIL 14-16

SAUDI ARABIAN COMPANY SEEKS U.S. OIL EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES

Mr. Mazen Brimo, General Manager
Oil, Gas Equipment, Parts, and Construction Services
P.O. Box 20850
Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia 31952
Tel: 011-966-3-869-2180
Fax: 011-966-3-895-3137
E-mail: mazenbrimo@unitedbusiness.sa.com 
Website: www.unitedbusiness.sa.com 

LOUISIANA: GATEWAY FOR THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE

As Governor-elect Jindal prepares to assume office, we should remind ourselves that the international opportunities for Louisiana are simply tremendous as the United States becomes further integrated into the ever-expanding global economy.

Louisiana must compete successfully in that global environment, and not just against Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama. The state should position itself to become “The Gateway for the Global Marketplace” for both outbound and inbound cargos and the related added value and jobs that can be generated through new distribution facilities, industry, technology, and logistical services. The state already has significant assets that work to its advantage internationally, including:

• A Rich History: Louisiana was settled by the French, Spanish and other nationalities starting over 300 years ago for the purpose of world trade, and that objective is every bit as important today as it was then. This is a very multinational, multicultural, and multilingual state, and we should fully exploit that intrinsic competitive advantage.
   
• An Entrepot: An underused but relevant word defined in the dictionary as “a commercial center whose goods are received for distribution, transshipment, or repackaging.” Louisiana of course already meets that criteria, but could do even better in the future as an international transportation hub and distribution center for primary, intermediate and finished products going to and from Mid-America. The state offers a strategic geographic location, to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River, a vast inland waterways network, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, six Class I railroads, the Interstate highway system, and airports.
   
• The Mega-Port: Few of our own residents - let alone outsiders - are aware that the lower Mississippi River in Louisiana has the largest port complex in the world in total waterborne commerce (five deepwater ports from Baton Rouge to the Gulf), a powerful asset that needs to be jointly marketed more aggressively worldwide. One in seven jobs in Louisiana is estimated to be maritime-dependent, which in turn generates about 13 percent of the state’s gross domestic product. The ports along the river are doing quite well as transit ports but could be much more than that, as in other states. They have the potential to add more processing, value, and jobs to inbound and outbound cargos (such as has been done with coffee) for steel, rubber, petrochemical, agricultural, forestry, seafood, and other products. But greatly increased, coordinated financial support from State government and the Legislature to upgrade the port facilities is absolutely essential to accomplish that objective, as happens in other maritime states. Investing in Louisiana’s transportation infrastructure is an assured statewide economic multiplier many times over.
   
• The Hemispheric Advantage: The Mississippi River is truly “The Avenue of the Americas,” a magnificent water highway leading to and from the rest of the world, and especially to nearby Latin America. In 2006 a record total of $23.5 billion of Louisiana-originating products and bulk commodities from other states (especially agricultural exports) were shipped worldwide from our deepwater ports -- after ag products came chemicals, petroleum and coal, processed food, and transportation equipment. Nearly one-fourth of those exports last year went to Latin America. Moreover, for the first nine months of 2007 Mexico was the #1 market for Louisiana exports, overtaking Japan, and Canada ranked third, with both results reflecting the positive trade impact that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has had on Louisiana. In addition, the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) passed in 2006, the recently approved U.S.-Peru FTA, the pending FTAs with Colombia and Panama, the widening of the Panama Canal, and the eventual opening of the Cuba market to U.S. goods all offer timely opportunities for Louisiana and its strong hemispheric transportation links to the U.S. heartland.
   
• Strategic Action: Much more can be said on how the forces of globalization can be used to Louisiana’s further advantage, given the state’s inherent competitive strengths. Governor Jindal should seize the initiative with business, government, and the academic community to develop creative strategies and an international master plan that will build on those assets that Louisiana can leverage to the world.