|
VITA's mission is to promote the Greater San
Fernando Valley as a leader in international trade
by providing our members with valuable resources,
informational programs, and referral assistance
and networking
opportunities. |
VITA Global Networking Breakfast
"Global Entrepreneurs"
Date: Wednesday
- November 18, 2009
Time:
7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Location: The
Valley Economic Alliance
5121 Van Nuys Blvd., 2nd
Floor
BFG Board
Room
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
|
|
One of our confirmed speakers is
Mr. Carlos
Sol, President, Connections
Unlimited. Business experts will speak about
doing business in international trade successfully
in a "Best Practices" format. Register and
find out more at our website
www.vitainternational.org. For additional
information, please call Darcy Winters at
818-379-7000 x109.
Non-Member Price:
$25.00 |
2009 Leadership
Conference
Strength, Connect and Strategies for
Success |
Date:
Thursday, October 22,
2009
Time: 7:30 a.m. - 2:00
p.m.
Location: Embassy Suite
Hotel
11767
Harbor Blvd
Garden Grove, CA
92840
Price: Free Seminar,
Luncheon $25.00
Asian
America Business Women Association and
Saban - South Asian Business Network, invite you
to the women leadership conference.
The purpose is to inspire, challenge and
provide new knowledge and skill to help women
achieve a better balance in their lives.
|
| South Africa Trade & Investment
Development Conference
October 28 - 29,
2009 |
|
Gathers Strategies, Inc. seeks to identify
and engage Valley International Trade Association
(VITA) member companies and San Fernando Valley
entrepreneurs that may wish to facilitate trade,
investment and strategic partnerships in South
Africa.
As a result of our long
standing involvement and engagement in U.S. -
Africa policy, trade and investment and our work
on behalf of California companies seeking to
develop new opportunities in South Africa, Gathers
Strategies, Inc. has been selected to participate
in an invite only trade and investment conference
in Johannesburg, South Africa - The Africa
Dialogue 2009 - taking place October 28- 29.
This important conference will include discussions
with the new government leadership in South
Africa, the leadership of all nine provinces, and
leading companies and business and trade
organizations.
This trip is an
opportunity to advance the interests of California
companies seeking to identify and develop
opportunities in South Africa and will leverage
key relationships in South Africa to also
undertake specific market research and business
development on behalf of a select number of firms
while there.
While the requirements
for each project sponsor might differ, our goal is
to deliver:
- An update/overview of South Africa's current
macro political and economic climate;
- Relevant information on the status of
certain economic sectors and specific
opportunities that relate to the clients we are
representing;
- Identification of and meetings with relevant
counterparts in the sectors relevant to the
project issues of our clients;
- A final report tailored to each client
sponsor upon return from South Africa with
recommended action plans.
For further information about this opportunity
and to discuss your project need, and costs
associated with this research and development
trip, please contact Dwayne Gathers at
213-291-6199 (direct) or dgathers@gathersstrategies.com. |
UCLA Extension
Programs
Certificate in International Trade and
Commerce |
UCLA Extension offers Certificate in
International Trade & Commerce (ITC) programs
and courses. UCLA Extension can deliver a program
onsite to the client. If there are 15 to 20+
individuals interested in a specific ITC courses
or certificate programs, UCLA Extension Custom
Programs can adapt a customized program (to meet
organizational objectives), and deliver it onsite
to VITA or a VITA member company. This is
cost effective (time-wise and geographically) for
employees not interested in commuting. It
also provides an opportunity to communicate timely
information across the organization in a
consistent manner. And, in some cases,
employees can readily utilize their tuition
reimbursement benefit.
For additional
information, please see
https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/ProgramDetails.aspx?reg=CF535 Certificate
in International Trade and Commerce, Global
Business Management Concentration
(CF533) https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/ProgramDetails.aspx?reg=CF533 UCLA
Extension Certificate in International Trade &
Commerce programs and courses can be helpful for
professionals seeking to prepare for the national
'Certified Global Business Professional'
designationsupported by the U.S. Dept. of
Commerce, the U.S. Small Business Administration,
and FCIB - An Association of Executives in
Finance, Credit and International Business.
For additional information to become a Certified
Global Business Professional, go to
|
Brazil - Emerging
Player in Global Stage By Ayse
Oge |
The International Olympic Committee's
choice to have Brazil host the 2016 summer games
paves the way for tremendous opportunity in
expanding the Olympic spirit, by Brazil becoming a
global player in international
trade.
With a population close to 200
million and a landmass similar to the U.S., Brazil
has the largest and the most complex market in
Latin America. Some facts about
Brazil:
·
Brazil's economy is expected to grow by 4% to 6%
every year. According to a forecast released by
the International Monetary Fund, the country is at
the forefront in taking Latin America out of its
recession.
· Brazil's
economy benefits largely from the robust demand
for its iron, timber, and crops such as sugar cane
and soybean. The discovery of new oil reserves is
expected to make the country a potential energy
exporter in 2012.
· Brazil's manufacturing,
retail and service industries have a healthy
growth pattern. The country's large consumer base
has an appetite for a wide range of
tastes.
· Foreign
investment in factories and offices has been
increasing lately despite the global recession.
· The
country is reaping the rewards of recent years of
conservative economic
planning.
Brazil's market challenges
include uneven income distribution, high
unemployment rates and a commodity-driven and
largely informal economy. U.S. exporters
need to know the domestic environment, including
both the explicit and implicit costs of doing
business in Brazil (referred to as "Custo
Brasil"). Such costs involve distribution,
government procedures, employee benefits,
environmental laws, and different tax
calculations. Logistics are a particular
challenge, due to the fragmented nature of
distribution channels.
Potential
market opportunities for U.S. exports and
investment include: Agricultural Equipment,
Agriculture, Aircraft and Parts, Airports,
Computer Software, E-Commerce, Highways,
Insurance, Iron and Steel, IT Hardware, Medical
Equipment, Mining, Oil and Gas, Pharmaceuticals,
Pollution Equipment, Ports, Railroads, Safety
& Equipment, Telecommunications and
Tourism.
The U.S. Department of
Commerce's website provides comprehensive data on
Brazil's market opportunities for U.S. exporters.
It can be accessed
at:
http://www.focusbrazil.org.br/ccg/PDFs/ccg_all_in_one.pdf
You
can get further information from the officials
through the Brazilian Consulate in Los
Angeles:
Setor
Comercial
trade@brazilian-consulate.org
Contacts
at the Consulate are:
Edna R. Shelby
Raquel
B. Davies
Walter Leao
Ayse Oge is
President of Ultimate Trade, International Trade
Consultant, Speaker and Trainer and can be reached
by www.goglobaltowin.com.
Email:oge@earthlink.net
|
Port of Los
Angeles and San Pedro's Next Phase
Article excerpt from Jacob
Adelman
The Associated
Press |
The
hulking container ships that ply the Port of Los
Angeles already provide Southern California with a
major source of revenue. Soon they could also
provide the scenery for what port officials hope
will be the region's newest tourist
destination. Harbor commissioners are set to
vote today on the port's $1.2 billion plan to
remake the jumbled strip of parking lots, seafood
stalls and ramshackle marina into a seaside
promenade bookended by passenger wharfs that could
host the world's biggest cruise ships.
Planners
say the redevelopment would help sustain the
gentrification of San Pedro - where upscale bars
and coffee shops share downtown streets with
tattoo parlors that have inked generations of
longshoremen - and diversify a maritime economy
dominated by the shipping industry hit by economic
downturn. " It gives the waterfront - a big
section of the port - back to the people," said
the port's executive director, Geraldine
Knatz.
Officials intend to finance
the renovations with about $900 million in port
revenue and other public funds, with the rest
coming from private developers. The plan is
a the latest incarnation in a decade - long series
of efforts to develop the port for walkers,
bikers, diners and shoppers. Backers hope
the current scaled - down project, including eight
miles of waterside walking paths that will meander
from the soaring Vincent Thomas Bridge to the
breakwater cradling part of Cabrillo Beach, will
get the harbor commissioners'
nod.
Under the port's plan, the tanks
and other unsightly elements would be removed from
the waterfront to make way for the parks,
fountains and other attractions along the harbor
side footpath. The plan also calls for the
complete redevelopment of Port O' Call, a complex
of now rundown restaurants and food stalls built
in the mid-1960's during the port's last major
effort to tempt visitors to the harbor. The
plans most controversial element is the proposed
construction of a so-called Outer Harbor cruise
ship terminal on a pier beside Cabrillo Beach, a
quiet sandy strip popular with Kayakers and
windsurfers within the breakwater that protects
the harbor. Neighbors are opposed to that
part of the plan because the 1,400 foot - long
cruise ships using the facility would block views
of the ocean and impede boaters using marinas near
the beach.
Harbor officials say the
cruise ships will only visit the terminal a few
hours each week and insist the development is
necessary if Los Angeles is to meet the cruise
industry's demands, since the berths in the
existing terminal up the channel are too small to
simultaneously hold more than two of the large
ships that operators are trending toward. If
the port does not make space for the larger ships,
cruise operators will take their business to other
cities, such as San Diego and San Francisco where
larger terminals are being built, Knatz said The
Port of Los Angeles recently inked a two-year deal
with Disney Cruise Line that makes Los Angeles its
West Coast home post starting in 2011. Knatz
said she believes the Outer Harbor's development
is key to having Disney remain at the
port.
|
| U.S. Commercial Service |
Founded in 1980, the U.S. Commercial Service
is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce,
which assists U.S. companies, particularly small
and medium-sized businesses with sales in
international markets. Our network includes
107 U.S. Export Assistance Centers throughout the
United States and more than 150 offices overseas
in 87 countries. Visit the U.S. government's
export portal at http://www.export.gov. |
| Buy USA E-Newsletter |
The U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial
Service has an excellent E-newsletter Asia Now
eNews. Please refer to the following website
to subscribe www.buyusa.gov/asianow/enews.html.
Each month there is a detailed article on a
featured country as well as reports on needs in
various Asian countries for US products and
services, and information about trade shows and
events throughout the
region. |
| GlobalCalifornia.com |
|
On-line resource directory of public and
private sector global trade related
organizations. GlobalCalifornia.com is
currently a simple online directory for
California's dynamic trade promotion and
investment community based on industry sectors,
such as, legal, trade finance, marketing,
educational, logistics and other sectors in global
trade. Eventually, the website will employ a
sophisticated searching mechanism through a
natural language query interface to identify
qualified online sources of information and
solutions in California, combined with the ability
for the user to summon on-demand online support in
real time or offline through the California Trade
Partners network.
VITA and MBITA are currently offering
exclusive sponsorship opportunities for
GlobalCalifornia.com. Please contact Tony
Livoti at 831-335-4780 or by e-mail: tlivoti@mbita.org to get on
the ground floor of California's premiere gateway
to global
trade. |
| TradePort
California's Gateway to
Global Trade |
TradePort is a cooperating partner of VITA
and a repository of free information and resources
for businesses that seek to conduct international
trade to and from California. Created in
1996, TradePort is backed by an alliance of
regional trade associations that assist California
export and import businesses. Includes
information on California Trade Statistics,
TradePort Network, Export & Import Tutorials,
Online Trade Services, Market Research, and a
Trade Library. Go to www.tradeport.org. |
| CalTrade Report |
The CalTrade Report is the only dedicated
source, online or in print, for international
business news/information in and about the world's
fifth largest economy, California. This
edition is brought to you free-of-charge courtesy
of Valley International Trade Association.
Click Here for the most recent edition of
the CalTrade Report with the latest
news. | |
| |
Darcy
Winters
VITA Newsletter
Editor
|
| |
