UK-US Transatlantic Trade Quarterly Policy Update & Fireside Chat – How are recent Brexit, UK-US Free Trade Agreement, and global pandemic developments affecting your business?
|
|
For one year, the people of the earth have been united in the fight against a worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. We acknowledge the many who mourn the loss of loved ones—family members, friends, or colleagues—or their jobs or educational opportunities. Yet, I firmly believe that we will emerge stronger, more closely linked to our families and neighbors, near and far. This year has shown that science, technology, and innovation can prevail. The rapid development of vaccines was built on years of quiet research and cooperation, the same kind of collaboration that is a hallmark of the individual World Trade Centers across the globe. Collectively, individual centers in the World Trade Centers Association sourced products and equipment to combat the virus and provided supply chain services so that these critical resources would arrive where they could be used in a timely manner, all while continuing to provide the kinds of services upon which international businesses rely.
International trade never stopped. We welcomed new members. One advantage that we had over the past year is that much of our work already was conducted on the Internet and at all hours of the day or night. We shifted to a complete virtual format and continued to offer targeted training as well as services such as providing Certificates of Free Sale, and linkages to local partners overseas who could help assess the reliability of potential suppliers of PPE. We provided virtual trade missions to the Caribbean and Central America, as well as Export training with our Delaware and Federal government ExporTech partners. We are proud that we presented the first bilateral US-Afghanistan two-way trade and investment conference with our partner and new member of the WTCA, World Trade Center Kabul. Already we are planning a follow-up event focusing on opportunities in the natural resources industry.
Technology, and your willingness to participate via new platforms, has opened up all kinds of program opportunities. This month, we are celebrating Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day by collaborating with the World Trade Centers in North America and Europe on March 23 to present a joint workshop titled “Fearless Leaders in International Business.” On March 24, we are hosting our Third Annual “Tastes of Chocolate and Beer from Around the World” co-sponsored by member United Cocoa Processor, with Midnight Oil Brewing and Sweet Dreams Confection Co. Instead of coming together at the brewery, we will be on the screen as we eat chocolate, drink beer and learn about the various flavors and their origins from the comfort of our homes! The boxes of chocolate just arrived (and it’s tempting to try them before we mail them and the coupons for three very large cans of Midnight Oil Beer that have been chosen to pair with the chocolates—but we promise we won’t!) We hope to see you for each of these events and many more that you will find in this newsletter and on our website.
Sincerely,
|
Carla Sydney Stone
President
|
|
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
WTCDE Premier Members
|
Port to Port International |
SPRING! Such a happy season that makes you want to spring out of winter and start enjoying longer days, more sunshine and plenty of warm weather. It’s a new beginning after a long winter and for this year, quarantine. Working from home has been a blessing to many businesses but sometimes you get tired of being in your home all the time. If that is you, we here at STAT International have a perfect opportunity for you. It’s called, The HUB. It is a co working space in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. We can safely accommodate you here in The HUB with high speed internet, great coffee, a printer/copy machine for your use and most importantly, a great view! We offer a day pass or several different memberships to help keep expenses under control. If you are ready to SPRING into something new, come down for a visit, I think you will like it here! |
|
Welcome to Our New Member |
|
WTC Delaware Welcomes New Member
DSN Energy Services
Wilmington, DE; March 2021—Congratulations and welcome to our new member DSN Energy Services, a consulting and training organization that acts as a liaison between companies in the U.S. and Guyana (South America) working in the oil and gas industries.
Devon Mitchell, CEO and President of DSN, hopes the company’s membership with World Trade Center Delaware will help in “leveraging resources and connections” to foster its mission and goals internationally. They include facilitating investments and partnerships among American companies and education, employment and growth in Guyana.
Mitchell was inspired to start the company after returning from a trip to his native country to attend the Guyana Petroleum Expo (GIPEX) in 2019 which was borne from the country’s discoveries of oil in recent years. He was born and grew up as a boy in Guyana and moved with his family to America when he was ten, but never quite forgot his roots.
“I’ve always wanted to help my country grow and build, so when oil was discovered five years ago, I felt called to help the Guyanese find solutions to leveraging this newfound product.” Mitchell has a background in training, having worked for Boeing and several other U.S. corporations. “I came back (from GIPEX) excited that I, along with others, could provide the services that would help the people of Guyana to finally realize their potential in the oil and gas industry.”
World Trade Center Delaware President Carla Stone provided research to aid DSN that show some reports have stated that Guyana may have the largest reserves per person of any country. With Exxon Mobile now a major corporation located there, Stone said “as the sector develops, more and more highly trained employees will be needed, so the company, with its goal of conducting "train the trainer", teaching and placing Guyana's citizens certainly does fill a need in the country.”
|
|
World Trade Center Delaware Gala
POSTPONED!
A NEW DATE WILL BE ANNOUNCED!
Honoring
Secretary of State
|
|
WTC Delaware Welcomes New Board Member Senator Nicole Poore
New Castle, Delaware, March, 2021—World Trade Center Delaware is pleased to announce that Delaware Sen. Nicole Poore has become its newest Board member.
“I am thrilled to join World Trade Center Delaware’s board of directors and I look forward to helping to advance their mission of bringing Delaware to the world,” Sen. Poore said. “WTC DE is the First State’s premier international business resource and I’m excited to help grow Delaware’s small business community by working to expand their reach and build their customer base.”
Sen. Nicole Poore represents the 12th Senate District, which includes most of New Castle and Bear, all of Delaware City and communities south of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, including Whitehall, Bayberry and others.
“We are excited to have such an esteemed legislative representative on our Board of Directors,” said WTC DE President Carla Stone. “We hope Senator Poore will help facilitate our local and global connections as a direct liaison to our state legislature and we welcome her as a huge asset to achieving our mission in the future.”
Raised in New Castle’s Jefferson Farms community, Sen. Poore graduated from St. Elizabeth’s High School in 1990 and earned an associate degree in criminal justice from Delaware Technical Community College and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Wilmington University.
She joined her brother in building a successful healthcare staffing startup that was later sold to Welsch Carson, one of the largest investment firms in the United States. Sen. Poore then became a senior client services manager for Agile 1, where she handled workforce solutions for the DuPont Co. Her professional and volunteer experience also includes serving as a member of the Delaware Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, volunteer work with the Rape Crisis Center and a stint as Exceptional Care for Children’s director of development. She is currently the president of Jobs for Delaware Graduates, a nonprofit that helps students connect with sustainable, skills-based career opportunities.
Sen. Poore’s interest in government policy began after the birth of her oldest son Nicholas, who was diagnosed cerebral palsy. Her activism in the special-needs community led to a successful 2012 bid for state Senate. Following her unchallenged bid for reelection in 2016, Sen. Poore was selected to serve as Senate Majority Whip by her peers. She then served as Senate Majority Leader from 2019 to 2021.
Sen. Poore currently chairs the Joint Capital Improvement Committee and serves as vice chair of both the Senate Health & Social Services Committee and the Senate Labor Committee. She also sits on the Senate Elections & Government Affairs Committee.
She and her husband Billy live in New Castle with their three children.
|
|
Delaware/Afghanistan Joint Trade Conference A Huge Success
“Afghanistan Beyond the Headlines” World Trade Centers’ Virtual Conference featured list of VIP Global Speakers
Kabul, Afghanistan, March 9, 2021—Business leaders from Delaware and Afghanistan met via a “live” virtual conference hosted by the World Trade Center Delaware and WTC Kabul to hear about a host of present and future opportunities for trade and investment between both countries and take advantage of a wide range of resources readily available.
Featuring a VIP speaker line-up that included U.S. and Afghanistan Embassy officials and government leaders, experts from the World Bank, US Department of Commerce and local businesses, the two-hour conference was the start of what World Trade Center Delaware President Carla Stone promised would become an ongoing partnership and continued talks to come. “We are already planning a second program so stay tuned,” she said.
U.S. Senator Chris Coons and U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt-Rochester addressed the conference virtually, encouraging US businesses that now is the best time to partner with Afghanistan in terms of trade, investment and doing business there. “With President Biden and the new administration, the US is ready and willing to be a partner on the world stage,” Rep. Rochester stated.
The conference gained its name because there is a distinct difference between how Afghanistan is viewed in the news and the reality that it has made great strides in the past several years to foster a more secure, progressive climate for U.S. companies to do more business there said Zabihullah Ziarmal, CEO of CEFE Group International and Chairman of WTC Kabul. Instead of “war and conflict, violence and instability, poverty and corruption” the reality is that there is “life and business, hope and prosperity and lots of business opportunities in terms of trade and investment” there, he said.
Ranked as the top country in trade growth with $1 billion in exports and a goal to increase that to $2 billion in 2023, H.E. Roya Rahmani, Afghan Ambassador to the United States and the first female ambassador from Afghanistan, attributed this growth to the huge youth population in her country. She said that sixty-five percent of the Afghan population is under twenty-five years old, eager to work, have never known a world without a close US-Afghan partnership, and are invested in future industries like telecom, Fintech and biotechnology.
While Afghanistan produces traditional products such as spices, new industries such as energy and minerals offer opportunities as well, conference leaders added. For example, there is one trillion dollars’ worth of lithium that is unmined, and the country is home to fourteen of seventeen rare earth minerals.
Ian J. McCary, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy Kabul said the country is in “a pivotal point in its history” despite the ups and downs it has faced, making great progress in infrastructure, security, financing and even social issues such as improved education and opportunities for women and minorities. McCary said there are over 4,000 products to be imported and that businesses now more than ever can work within the country’s “system of preferences” that supports doing trade there, which is backed by its government.
Through its five-year comprehensive plan, Afghanistan’s objectives include improving transit, legal channels, industrial growth, increasing imports and exports, establishing governmental “one stop shops” that focus on cutting the cost of doing business and creating public-private partnerships. There are 148 projects currently ready in mining and energy, and a portfolio of $4.5 billion in investments waiting to be had.
Diplomats at the conference said there are already more than 6000 companies in Afghanistan’s new electronic “procurement portal” and legal blocks are being removed to pave the way for US companies who are doing business there, including General Motors, with 322 opportunities already on the horizon in the coming year.
Other speakers at the conference included Atta Nasib, General Dir. Afghanistan Investment Facilitation Unit Harris Manan, Dir. General of Afghanistan President’s Office for Policy & Strategy, Abdul Hadi Nijrabi, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Afghanistan, DC, Jocelyn A. Steiner, Attorney Advisor, Office of the General Counsel of the United States Department of Commerce, Nancy Bikondo-Omosa, Senior Procurement Specialist The World Bank and Abdul Qadir Bayman, Founder & CEO, World Trade Center Kabul Afghanistan.
Business owners from small start-ups to large global companies were given the chance to ask questions of the panels and world leaders on the virtual conference stage which was supported by the World Trade Center Washington D.C. and World Trade Center Harrisburg (PA). For more information visit World Trade Center Delaware at www.wtcde.com.
|
|
Rotary Wilmington and World Trade Center Delaware Host Workshop
Presenting Local-Global Business Opportunities Presented by the CIO
World Trade Center-Pune, India
Wilmington, DE, March 12, 2021—Business leaders from Wilmington, Delaware were treated to a glimpse of what business and investment, trade and partnership opportunities are like in Pune, India as the Rotary Club of Wilmington and World Trade Center Delaware co-hosted a virtual “live” workshop presentation by World Trade Center Pune, India’s Chief Innovation Officer Niraj Khinvasara.
During the Rotary Wilmington’s meeting, the WTC-Pune CIO showcased how India is fast growing in its global leadership in several areas of business and commerce, especially in the automotive, advanced manufacturing, smart cities, and vaccination manufacturing industries. Pune, located in India’s fastest growing state, is home to the headquarters of Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd., the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally.
“We are so fortunate in this virtual climate to further our goals to connect Delaware businesses to global opportunities, investments and trade in both imports and exports,” said World Trade Center Delaware President Carla Stone. “We are also grateful for our partnerships with organizations like Rotary Wilmington and World Trade Center Pune to facilitate these connections worldwide.”
The Wilmington Rotary and the WTC Pune CIO who hails from a Rotary family with many fond memories of participating in the organization’s youth programs, found that they had a lot in common as members of both discussed common missions such as fostering education for children, especially for girls, improved childcare initiatives, and eradicating diseases such as polio and COVID-19. “We are very blessed to have Serum in our country,” Niraj said, adding that it is India’s goal to have “every citizen in India vaccinated by March 1, 2022."
With a global career in technology, media and entrepreneurship that spans two decades, Niraj led sales for AT&T’s energy sector for Shell in Asia-Pacific. He handled complex innovative technologies for the Oil & Gas + Renewables segments and was responsible for charting the company’s strategic sales roadmap and positioning innovative products.
|
|
WTC Delaware provides a full range of international trade-related services with an in-depth focus on export/import of services and manufactured goods.
Oil and Gas
|
|
STANDARD - $475 (1-49 employees), $825 (50-99 employees), $1,375 (100+ employees)
PREMIER - $2,675
STUDENT - $100
|
|
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIP |
What to do when a foreign buyer doesn't pay.
If you are having trouble collecting payment from an international customer, answer these questions before getting outside help.
1. Have you contacted the buyer to determine the problem?
***
How to finance your international business.
|
|
Weekly International Job Posts: The latest 300 job opportunities posted on DevelopmentAid
- Senior Pricing Manager | Finance, Contracts, and Pricing Division | Remote Senegal Incubator Manager, USA
- Senior Technical Specialist | Strategy, Performance, and Learning (SPL) Division | Remote, USA
- Senior Technical Editor - Remote-Based
- Team Leader and Senior Gender Specialist, Africa
- And more!
To view all the up-to-date jobs, please click the link below:
|
|
International Delaware Magazine Released by World Trade Center Focuses on FinTech in the First State
The World Trade Center Delaware has released its fourth edition of International Delaware Magazine which focuses on Delaware's growing FinTech industry.
“Little did we know when we first discussed the theme for this issue just how timely this edition would be,” said World Trade Center Delaware President Carla Stone. “The use of IT and e-commerce exploded during the past eight months as people sought to limit contact with others in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It is clear that financial technology services, or FinTech, is here to stay and will only grow in the future.”
The foundation for FinTech in Delaware was laid in 1981, when then-Gov. Pierre S. du Pont IV signed the Financial Center Development Act, legislation designed to increase employment in the banking and financial services sector by attracting out-of-state institutions to establish subsidiaries in Delaware. Today, Delaware, despite its tiny population, is one of the world's great financial centers. Over 75% of all FinTech investment in the Philadelphia region is found in Delaware and it has the highest concentration of financial services employment in the entire country according to a study by Delaware Prosperity Partnership. The study, "Delaware in a FinTech Future," reported that Delaware ranks No. 1 per capita for the number of FinTech patents issued over the past ten years in the U.S. and No. 5 overall.
Discover Bank, this issue's presenting sponsor, is making a significant contribution to Delaware's FinTech future. In partnership with the University of Delaware and Delaware Technology Park, Discover is building a new 100,000-square-foot center for FinTech innovation on the university's Science Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus that will combine the prowess of academia, government, and industry to support and grow FinTech's future in Delaware. “We thank Discover and all of our partners who have made this issue of International Delaware possible,” Stone said. “Tens of thousands of readers around the world will learn what we already know: FinTech is the future of commerce and Delaware is its home.”
To read/download your copy, please click the image above.
|
|
World Trade Center® Delaware is the State’s premier international business resource. We help companies, especially small, medium-sized and emerging enterprises, to grow their international business. We provide trade leads, training programs, job leads, networking, matchmaking, trade mission and reverse trade mission opportunities for Delaware companies. We serve all types of companies in various sectors including agriculture, environmental remediation, IT, medical equipment manufacturing, biopharmaceuticals, financial, legal and real estate services. For more information visit us at www.wtcde.com.
|
|
World Trade Center Delaware
42 Reads Way, Suite B
New Castle, DE 19720
ph: 302-656-7905
|
|
Copyright © 2021. All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
