Armenia trade office gets axed

Governor Schwarzenegger has vetoed Senate Bill 515, that would have extended the statutory sunset for the privately funded California trade office in Armenia until 2010. This will possibly end California’s experiment with privately funded, but officially sanctioned trade offices in foreign countries. California eliminated all its official foreign trade offices in 2003 after an Orange County Register investigative reporter found them to be greatly exaggerating, and in some cases completely fabricating success stories related to their own performance. At about the same time, a proposal for a privately funded trade office was pushed through the State Legislature by the State’s powerful Armenian community, and a small trade promotion office was established in Yerevan, Armenia. While the office received no State Government funding, it was officially sanctioned and the California Business Transportation and Housing Department was charged with oversight of the program. A recent performance review of the Armenia trade office by this agency found its performance to be mediocre at best and noted that the office had not been able to meet investment targets for its own funding, and could only identify one significant deal it had facilitated.