California INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Report | |
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California Responds to Global Disaster A disaster of a magnitude unprecedented in modern history hit the planet earth last week as an earthquake near Indonesia spread a deadly Tsunami across the Indian Ocean. Releasing the equivalent energy of 1000 atomic bombs of the type that destroyed Nagasaki, the wave killed an estimated 150,000 people in 12 countries. The disaster did not discriminate between rich and poor, as small fishing villages in Sumatra were destroyed as well as pricy tourist resorts in Thailand. President Bush, on vacation at the time, originally responded fully three days after the event with an embarrassing offer of 15 million dollars, but has since greatly increased this to 350 million, dispatched Navy ships to the area to help with rescue effort and is helping to coordinate the international response of Governments. A second, and possibly equally important story has also emerged from this tragedy- and that is the enormous generosity of the world community in responding to this situation as billions of dollars has been donated from ordinary citizens everywhere. The California response to the disaster is covered in issue as well as other business news and information for internationally-oriented firms and professionals in California. |
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 News and
Politics back
Donations Pour in from Across the State
Although it was completely on the other side of the planet, California's response to the Asian tsunami disaster was swift and generous. Virtually every segment of our society responded, from convenience stores putting out trays to collect small donations of coins for survivors, to large corporations giving gifts of up to a million dollars or more. Faith based organizations as well as secular NGOs and atheist organizations responded as did Hollywood actors and actresses, sports figures, students, schoolchildren and teachers, trade union members, exotic dancers, rock bands, truck drivers and thousands of ordinary citizens. Groups that had organized in the attempt to unseat President Bush- accustomed to collecting small donations from large numbers of people were particularly effective. Berkeley-based MoveOn.org, for example organized New Year's parties and was able to raise an impressive $2.5 million in one day for the relief group Oxfam. Other groups cited President Bush as their inspiration for giving. Larry Sonsini, The CEO of the legal firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati saying they were responding "in the spirit of President George Bush's recent call to action" and donated $150,000 to the American Red Cross's International Response Fund. Many large Corporations in California responded generously, and this is at best a partial list: ChevronTexaco donated a full million dollars- $750,000 to the American Red Cross to be used in Indonesia and $250,000 to the Thai Red Cross Society. Pacific Life Insurance Co.'s philanthropic arm, the Pacific Life Foundation also donated a million dollars and gave it to the US Fund for UNICEF- the largest single donation ever made by this foundation.Wells Fargo & Company contributed $100,000 to to the International Response Fund of the American Red Cross, and also waived all transfer fees for U.S.-based customers to send money to friends and families impacted by the disaster. Amazon.com, the world's largest Internet retailer, collected more than three million dollars through a link on its home page that lets customers make donations to the American Red Cross. The employees of San Jose based Cisco Systems donated at least $2.5 million to relief efforts. Mountain View-based Google made a exception to its policy of maintaining a stark main page by adding a link titled ``Ways to help with tsunami relief'' and giving it prominent display. EBay put donation links to UNICEF and other relief organizations and also set up systems so that users could place items up for sale with proceeds going to charitable organizations- the company's foundation also plans to make a gift to the relief efforts. Safeway Corporation of Pleasanton launched a customer-based and company-wide fund-raising effort to aid those affected by the disaster- more than 18-hundred stores in the United States and Canada have been set up to receive and process donations from shoppers during checkout with these donations going to that American Red Cross and UNICEF, Kaiser Permanente gave $250,000, Blue Shield of California gave $100,000, and the list goes on. Smaller companies responded generously as well- sometimes linking donations to their business transactions . Kiri Suykry, President of 1LoanCenter of Long Beach, announced that his company will respond to the tsunami disaster in South Asia by donating $2,000 to the American Red Cross and by donating $250 from the fees of every new loan that 1LoanCenter completes for a borrower, with the goal of contributing a total of $10,000 toward the tsunami relief effort. Suykry, said, "As part of an Asian refugee family, my thoughts and condolences go out to the tens of thousands of people who have died and are suffering through this great tragedy". Woodstock's Pizza in the Bay Area offered a free large, one-topping pizza for every $25 donated to the Salvation Army. Amoeba Music stores in Berkeley, San Francisco and Hollywood are donating $1 from some customer purchases to the humanitarian organization CARE. Peet's Coffee & Tea, based in Emeryville, is matching up to $25,000 in customer donations to relief group Doctors Without Borders. Grocery chain Whole Foods Market has donated $10,000 and raised $85,000 from shoppers in California and other States and Provinces, for the humanitarian agency Mercy Corps. Hollywood opened its wallet as well as movie stars Sandra Bullock and Leonardo DiCaprio donated big sums to relief agencies and NBC planned a celebrity-studded TV benefit. The American Red Cross said it received a $1 million donation from Bullock for tsunami relief in South Asia and East Africa. DiCaprio pledged a "sizable" contribution to UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, targeted for aid to devastated areas of Thailand, where his 2000 film "The Beach," was filmed. The Spielberg family donated $1.5 million Tuesday to tsunami relief, designating Save the Children, CARE and Oxfam as the recipients. The Los Angeles-based alternative rock band Linkin Park has set up an organization called Music for Relief and gave an initial donation of $100,000 to American Red Cross programs. Linkin Park recently played sold-out stadium shows in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, which all suffered tsunami fatalities. Also donating was the Rainbow World Fund, a Gay and Lesbian Humanitarian Organization in the Bay Area- raising more than $150,000 in that community. Virtually every religious domination responded in some way. Roman Catholic parishes throughout California took second collections for tsunami victims. All funds raised by them went to Catholic Relief Services, a humanitarian charity with bases throughout the world. Ken Hackett, president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, said financial contributions of all sizes are vital to the recovery of the tsunami victims. Jim DeHarpporte, the western regional director of Catholic Relief Services left to tour areas of India and Indonesia that were ravaged by the massive waves. He will make the visit with top officials from CRS, the official international humanitarian organization of the U.S. Catholic community The Sikh Temple of West Sacramento held special collections to aid tsunami victims. Bypassing their goal of $25,000, Sikh elders said the temple raised $28,500 during the two-day New Year's holiday. Jagat Rye, chairman of the temple, said he was overwhelmed by the support "People are pouring in-even people not connected to the temple," Rye said, "We have lots of people whose family was affected by but anytime there is disaster like this the temple is on the front line of collecting donations". Hindu Temples and Muslim Mosques throughout California also organized special collections. Virtually every ethnic group in California also responded in some way- including those that were not affected by the disaster. Little Saigon Radio in Orange County raised $500,000 in just over a week- more than the Vietnamese Government contributed. In Cupertino, Calif., an online Tamil radio station theendral.com did a 12-hour radio-thon interspersing song requests with survivor interviews from Chennai, India. The Indonesian News- an Indonesian-American TV news program broadcast in Los Angeles and San Francisco, helped coordinate efforts among 11 Northern California Indonesian churches and the consulate. In Southern California, where there are 40,000 Indonesians, print publication Indonesian Media helped initially raise more than $17,000 through cultural events. Sports lovers also responded- for example a group that organizes golf games for charity: Ugottagolf.com responding with a series of celebrity golf tournaments organized by Ugottagolf.com. The golf matches will be held in January in Simi Valley, Yorba Linda and Pasadena. One-hundred-percent of the profits generated from these golf tournaments will be donated to World Vision. Some California NGOs (non Governmental Organizations) were among the "first responders" to the disaster, in most cases taking action more quickly and effectively than any government could. Direct Relief International, a medical relief agency in Santa Barbara, Calif., worked to get millions of dollars in drug and health care donations to the victims of the disaster. So far, they have shipped more than twenty tons of specifically requested medicines, supplies, equipment through seven separate shipments to India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. Their materials were drawn from current inventory, not from the product that has been donated specifically for this emergency, which will be provided in upcoming shipments. FedEx Corporation donated free trucking and airfreight, a seven-ton air shipment that just went out would have cost an additional $25,000 were it not for this contribution. International Medical Corps., headquartered in Santa Monica, also responded on the scene with activities that included the operation of mobile clinics to treat the sick and injured, provision of clean drinking water, and distribution of hygiene and sanitation kits. IMC also helped to locate individuals, families and communities who have been displaced from their homes and need assistance. The Santa Clara-based aid group Hidaya Foundation is collecting clothes, bedsheets and other goods at a Milpitas warehouse for shipment by sea to Sri Lanka next week. The group plans to send up to 19 more containers to meet the needs of disaster victims. Perhaps it is being in a earthquake prone State near the ocean gave Californians a special empathy for the victims, or for some the need to do something positive in the world to make up for the Iraq war, for others it might have been a spirit of giving that started after 9/11, or just simple compassion. Whatever their individual reasons, in the sad aftermath of this tragedy, the people of California have good reason to be proud of their fellow citizens. eBay Executive in India arrested on Porn Charges. A two minute video clip of teenagers engaged in an oral sex act exploded into an international incident when the clip was offered for sale on the India eBay site. The scandal started when two 11th-grade students from New Delhi Public School filmed themselves on the boy's mobile phone using a technology called MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). When the boy and the girl broke up a few days later, the boy started sending the clip to other classmates in the school. The film clip soon traveled across the country and was selling briskly on CDs by street vendors when an Indian college student put the clip up for sale on Braazee.com - an auction site that was bought by eBay last year. The clip was not shown on the site, and eBay removed the item as soon as it was discovered, but not before a storm of "outrage" erupted from numerous quarters.. In Indian society, even mild displays of affection are considered culturally unacceptable and sex is totally taboo in films, where actors and actresses are not even permitted to kiss. The story made headlines in every major Indian newspaper and sparked outrage among Hindu religious conservatives who decried the country's growing "permissiveness" especially among urban youth. The police sprang into action and arrested the seller of the video clip and the boy- who was expelled from school and then sent to a juvenile detention center, while the girl was sent to Canada to live with relatives. The Police then turned their attention to the country CEO of eBay Avnish Bajaj, an Indian born US citizen who founded the Braazee site that was later sold it to eBay for $50 million. He was arrested him for violating India's Information Technology Act of 2000, which makes a criminal offense out of "publishing, transmitting, or causing to publish any information in electronic form, which is obscene". EBay strongly protested the arrest of its top executive. "We are outraged that Bajaj, who had voluntarily traveled to New Delhi to further cooperate with the police on this case, was arrested and sent into judicial custody without bail," a statement by eBay said. "The arrest was unexpected and completely unwarranted. It is unfortunate that local law enforcement has chosen to misdirect its energies towards Bajaj. EBay is working to secure Bajaj's release from jail as soon as possible," the statement said. The situation escalated all the way to the White House as Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Advisor and Secretary of State designate, telephoned the US ambassador in India, David Mulford, about the case, and was reported to be "furious" at Mr. Bajaj's treatment. The outrage then passed to India's Lok Sabha, or lower house of parliament where the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party - which takes a hard line on anything they consider to be immoral, especially from western sources condemned the US interference. The voices of outrages on the left were heard as well as some Indians expressed concern about the restriction of freedoms and loss of civil liberties in the Information Technology Act. India's powerful National Association of Software and Service Companies called for Mr Bajaj's immediate release. "In such a situation, the arrest and detention of Mr Bajaj is uncalled for and not expected in a mature democracy like ours". The Harvard educated Mr. Bajaj has since been released from jail but his passport is being held and if convicted of online trading of pornography, faces a possible jail term of up to five years. Stranded Filipino Sailors get Work Permits. Thirteen Filipino sailors who had been stranded since the Coast Guard seized their ship in September got help from U.S. Immigration authorities and the Longshoremen's Union in the form of temporary U.S. work permits and donated cash. The sailors, who are cooperating with federal prosecutors in a case against their employer, got work permits that allow them to earn income and send money back to families in the Philippines during their detention. They are living in a donated house in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, where supporters delivered a Christmas tree just before Christmas. Federal authorities want them to stay in the country so they can testify in a trial against the Greek firm DST Shipping Company.The Coast Guard impounded the crew's ship, the Katerina, at the Port of Long Beach on Sept. 14 after authorities who boarded the 16,320-ton cargo vessel said they discovered the oil sludge filter had been disconnected, the toilets were broken and the crew was being deprived of food and water. Congressman Filner's efforts Free Jailed Citizen. Dawn Marie Wilson is now free after spending more than a year and a half in a Mexican jail after being arrested in Ensenada for possessing prescription medicines without a prescription. According to a report in the San Diego Union, Wilson was living aboard a sailboat with her fiance Terry Kennedy off the Baja California coast when she was stopped April 12, 2003, and searched by police in Ensenada, who accused her of hitchhiking. Wilson was arrested after officers searched her bag and found a three-month supply of an anti-seizure medication, as well as diet pills she was delivering to a friend. She was found guilty by a Mexican federal judge and sentenced to five years in prison. "She was originally stopped by cops who liked the way she looked, and then they took her credit cards. A typical shakedown," according to Congressman Bob Filner (D -Chula Vista) "Then apparently a different police group showed up, and the first group had to arrest her to justify their own crimes". While Kennedy and Filner tried to cut through the bureaucratic maze and pursued the appeals process, Wilson remained inside the Ojos Negros federal prison in Ensenada. Wilson, 49, said in an interview that Filner "was the only government official who would help us". Filner was shocked at what he described as a blase attitude on the part of U.S. Embassy and consular officials toward Wilson's predicament. "I was appalled by their lack of aggressiveness in defending a U.S. citizen," he said. "All they said at first was, 'You have to follow Mexican law.'". Eventually, a U.S. consular officer in Tijuana managed to invoke a U.S.-Mexico treaty that allows for prisoners to be swapped across the border and serve out their sentences in their own country, under the sentencing guidelines of the home country. Detainee in 9/11 probe deported to Algeria. One of the nation's longest-held detainees from the Sept. 11, 2001, investigation has been deported to his native Algeria after three years and three months in San Diego jails. Samir Abdoun, 38, a former 7-Eleven clerk and acquaintance of two hijackers who lived in San Diego, was escorted by federal agents on flight that departed from San Diego International Airport and arrived in Algeria where he was was turned over immediately to Algerian authorities. Abdoun came to the attention of law enforcement because he was with Yazeed Al-Salmi, his roommate, when Al-Salmi was arrested Sept. 22 as a material witness in the terror investigation. Abdoun was arrested because of his illegal immigration status. He was later charged with immigration crimes, not terrorism. Representative Matsui Dies. Democratic Representative. Robert T. Matsui, of Sacramento who served 26 years in Congress, has died at age 63 from pneumonia brought on by bone marrow disease. Matsui was born in 1941. The following year, his family was among the Japanese-Americans forced into internment camps during World War II. Decades later, he helped pass legislation which apologized for the internment policy and provided compensation for the survivors. He was the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the past two years, in charge of the unsuccessful effort to regain control of the House, and was also the third-ranking Democrat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Matsui was recently re-elected with ease to his 14th term in Congress. His death will trigger a special election for a new representative in his Sacramento-area district. Matsui won his seat in Congress in 1978. He generally supported Democratic legislation, but his support for global trade legislation put him at odds with members of his party on some high-profile measures.
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 Letters to the
Editor back
International Development Exchange Recommends Relief Organizations Thanks for your concern and desire to help families affected by the earthquake and tsunami. I have been directing people to organizations in the Bay Area raising money for affected families. The Association for India's Developmentwww.aidindia.org. AID provides relief in terms of food and shelter to families in India. They are concerned with short-term and long-term work. The Bay Area Tamil Manram (www.bayareatamilmanram.org) works for groups with focus on Tamil Nadu, the state most affected by the tsunami. The Indians for Collective Action http://www.icaonline.org. ICA members are currently organizing relief efforts in Chennai and other Tamil Nadu coastal villages. American India Foundation (www.aifoundation.org) has launched a Tsunami Relief Fund with the goal of raising at least $2 million in the next 90 days. SRI LANKAhttp://www.uslankan.com/helpvictims/index.htm - raising money on behalf of local Sri Lankan groups. ACROSS ALL
COUNTRIES INDIA BASED GROUP In case any of your members are interested in knowing more about SIFFS work, you can direct them to me. My phone number is (415) 824-8384 X 215 and my email isbalu@idex.org. Balasubramanian (Balu) Iyer Asia Program
Director San Francisco World Neighbors NGO recommends Relief Organizations Thanks for
your call and for including us in your newsletter. Below is a link
to how we are responding to crisis in South Asia.http://www.wn.org/idep_main SF Consulate General of Mexico Releases 2005 Program Dear Friends of Caltrade, This is a
preliminary program of activities with Bank of America, we are working
very close with the Mexican Entrepreneurial Councul of the Bay Area to
organize a wide number of meetings sponsored by CitiBank, Wellsfargo,
UsBank, FDIC and many Community Organizations, most of these programs will
be in Spanish due to the need of nearly one million Spanish speakers in
the Bay area of Sf and Northern California, I will be in Jan 19th 2005.- Round Table at the Consulate with experts in Financial Issues, also presence of one speaker of Bank Of America giving informationof the Bank Loans Programs March 16th 2005.- Round Table at the Consulate with experts in Tax Issues,also presence of one speaker or representative of Bank of America. May 21st 2005.- (saturday activity) Round Table at the CHDC (CaliforniaHuman Development Corporation) www.chdcorp.org in Santa Rosa on Financialeducation cosponsored with FDIC and the Consulate. One speaker and moderatorof Bank of America. September 14th 2005 at the Consulate. Round Table on Computer skills forSmall Business, how to use Programs for Data Base, Accounting and TaxDeclaration. Comments and moderation of Bank of America representative. October 22nd 2005.- (saturday activity) Round Table in Santa Rosa with CHDC.Export-import activities and investing in Mexico. Moderator and Comments byBank of America representatives and Custom Broker expert from Tucson, AZ. November 17th
2005 (thursday activity) in Concord, CA with the HispanicChamber of
Commerce of Contra Costa. Round Table "Buying your house orbusiness real
estate with the help and credit of Bank Of America" Expert and
There are
other Business events in around 10 cities in the Bay Area in caseyou want
to increase your sponsorship participation in South San Francisco,Oakland,
Hayward, San Leandro, Redwood City, East Palo Alto, Eureka, Ukiah,
Sincerely Bernardo
Mendez
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Tax Credit Given to Companies Who Paid No Taxes. A small group of companies paid no California income tax but has begun receiving millions of dollars in refunds after a state board ignored its staff and ordered the checks issued. The Board of Equalization, which implements state tax policy, voted early in December to begin writing checks to the firms. The move has been strongly critized by those who call this Corporate welfare and consider the $82-million cost inappropriate at a time when the state has no money to spare. The first batch of checks, totaling $5 million, went to Conexant Systems of Newport Beach, Grundfos U.S. Holding of Fresno, and Lightwave Electronics of Mountain View. In all, 22 companies that paid no income taxes are positioned to get $82 million under this manufacturing tax credit. State tax attorneys say the credit was intended to attract and keep manufacturers in California, but not to provide refunds to companies paying no income tax. The refunds are tied to a tax break called the manufacturers investment credit, which reimbursed manufacturing companies for purchases of new equipment. California enacted the 6% tax credit during the recession of the 1990s to help create manufacturing jobs. The value of the credit has been controversial and the nonpartisan legislative analyst's office ultimately found little evidence that it had generated economic growth for the state. Congresswoman Sanchez Denied Entry to Vietnam. Plans by Rep. Loretta Sanchez to meet with Vietnamese dissidents during a trip to Southeast Asia were been blocked by authorities there. A message posted on Vietnam's National Assembly website said the congresswoman was denied an entry visa because her visit "would not serve Vietnam-U.S. relations." According to the announcement, U.S. Embassy officials in Hanoi were told Sanchez "lacks objectivity and goodwill toward Vietnam". Sanchez (D-Anaheim), a frequent critic of Vietnam's human rights record,had hoped to meet with several dissidents who were under house arrest. She applied for a travel visa in May but never heard back from the Vietnamese. In December, Vietnamese officials told the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi that Sanchez would not be allowed in the country. In a written statement issued by her office, Sanchez said she was disappointed Vietnamese officials refused her entry but was not surprised, saying that the government "has proved its intolerance in dealing with people who do not share its point of view". Sanchez, a member of the Congressional Vietnam Caucus, represents the largest expatriate Vietnamese community in the United States. Sanchez also met with Thai officials to discuss the smuggling of people into the United States who end up working as virtual slaves or sex workers. U.S. to end limits on Mexican Avocados. The United States plans to lift a 90-year ban on importing Hass avocados from Mexico into California over the objections of the state's growers, who say an infestation of pests from south of the border could damage their orchards. Under new Department of Agriculture (USDA) rules, 47 states will be allowed to import Mexican avocados starting at the end of January. At the request of growers, the primary avocado-producing states of California, Florida and Hawaii will remain closed for two more years.The arrival of the Mexican fruit could cut avocado prices by about 10 percent next month and perhaps 20 percent by 2007, when imports will be allowed in all 50 states, but it also could slash California growers' sales by up to 20 percent, according to federal estimates. The ban on Mexican avocados was based on a fear of the pests hitching rides into the United States. But Mexican growers said the restrictions were merely a form of economic protectionism and a violation of free-trade agreements. Some grower still remember a weevil infestation nearly wiped out California's avocado industry midcentury that forced many growers to burn their orchards and replant, however a USDA analysis found that an unlikely set of circumstances would have to unfold for an infestation to occur again. Mexico long has pushed for increased access to the U.S. avocado market, noting that under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement and World Trade Organization rules, the United States could continue to bar the fruit only if there was credible evidence showing the threat of pest contamination. Immigrant Smuggling Ring Busted. Federal officials here say they have busted an immigrant-smuggling ring that specialized in shuttling people from Eastern Europe through California's border crossings with Mexico and then on to the East Coast. Four members of the ring.were arrested December 6h in San Diego County. The ring charged $5,000 to $9,000 to fly Eastern Europeans out of Warsaw, Poland, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and other cities through Mexico City to Tijuana, where they posed as U.S. citizens to cross the border, said officials with the FBI and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "This organization used a network of international accomplices to facilitate their smuggling activities," said Dan Dzwilewski, the special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego office. He said the group smuggled men, women and children from Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Poland. Attempts involving 43 people were intercepted by law enforcement. "We just caught a small fraction of those that were smuggled," he said. There also is no link between the group and the smuggling of women into the United States to work as prostitutes, Unzueta said. Eastern Europe is notorious for criminal gangs that promise young women work abroad as waitresses or maids but then force them into prostitution. The man accused of leading the ring, Yervand Asriyants, 42, of San Diego, faces 15 years in prison if convicted, said prosecutor William Cole. Nevada may kick in for Desalinization plant. Nevada officials are beginning to consider paying Southern California to convert salt water to fresh water. The idea would be to seek in return some of California's allocation of water from the Colorado River, said McClain Peterson, a Colorado River Commission of Nevada natural resources manager. Peterson presented a comparative analysis of such a dollars-for-water trade to a conference at the Caesars Palace hotel-casino. "There's a lot of research on how much desalination costs at the coast," Peterson said, "but until now, no one has looked at the economies of scale". Water rights agreements currently give California priority to water from the Colorado River, the Southwest's key water source. Peterson studied whether Nevada could underwrite doubling the size of a proposed desalination plant in California, and calculated how much California could save by not having to treat and pump water from the river. He imagined the desalination plant producing 56,000 acre-feet of fresh water per year, or a year's supply for at least 56,000 homes. Silicon Valley Incubator in Joint Venture with Enterprise Network. The Enterprise Network of Silicon Valley (TEN) and the Institute for International Business Development (IIDB) announced an alliance create business opportunities for entrepreneurs and small and medium businesses working in high technology and other fields, and contribute to the growth of the economy of San Jose, California. The IIBD plans to will work with TEN and the Greater San Jose Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GSJHCC) to develop joint programs to establish a nurturing environment for entrepreneurs and companies from the U.S., Latin America and other regions by providing incubator facilities, educational and marketing services, networking and contact opportunities, and access to low cost financing and venture capital. "At TEN we are excited about working with the IIBD to increase our technology incubation efforts globally," said Dr. William Musgrave, President and CEO of TEN. "TEN's alliance with the IIBD is an excellent complement to the relationship that we recently established with the Mexican government, under which 12 Mexican technology companies will be in residence at a Mexican accelerator in TEN's Sobrato Center for Innovation in South San Jose".As part of the TEN/IIBD alliance, the IIBD offices are now located in the new TEN 72,000 sq. ft. Sobrato Center for Innovation in the Edenvale Technology Park in South San Jose. The center has the capability to support high-tech entrepreneurs in nanotechnology, biotechnology, and IT. Edison International asks Regulators to Address Global Warming. In long-term procurement reply comments made to California regulators, Edison International of Rosemead called greenhouse gas emissions "a likely contributor to global warming." The company is asking regulators, policymakers, and other stakeholders in the Western United States to join in developing comprehensive national programs to address global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, primarily carbon dioxide. Edison's call to action comes after a series of recommendations by the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington addressing the impact of global warming on the economies and public health in the Western states. Edison applauds the governors for seeking reasonable policy initiatives that apply to all greenhouse gas emitting sectors of the economy and that do not focus only on investor-owned utilities as a proposed regulatory decision does. Edison has advocated developing policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions based on a comprehensive consideration of renewable energy and low carbon-emitting technologies, energy conservation and energy efficiency programs, conventional generation, and new carbon-dioxide emission-removal technologies. Armenians Donate Books to Glendale Library. The American Armenian International College has donated 12,500 Armenian books to the library here in hopes the city's Armenian population will read them. The donation places the library among those with the largest Armenian-language collections in the country, according to library experts. The books include hardcover volumes with titles and mandalas imprinted in gold fleck and pocket-sized paperbacks by the "Shakespeare of Armenia," author Hovhannes Tumanian. The trustees wanted to find a home for the books close to a significant Armenian population, and Glendale seemed the logical fit, said Jack Jandegian, vice chairman of the college's board of trustees. The college is based in La Verne. More than one-third of Los Angeles County's nearly 153,000 Armenians live in Glendale, which has the second-largest population of people of Armenian descent of any city in the country, behind Los Angeles.
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Falling Dollar Boosting Tourism. There is not much hard data, but there are increasing reports that the weak U.S. Dollar is boosting Tourism in the State. Some officials had worried that international animosity to the Bush Administration would cause tourists to boycott the U.S. and select other destinations, but that does not appear to be happening. Germany, where anti Bush sentiment is strongest, had a 12 percent increase in inbound traffic to Los Angeles. Palm Spring Tourism officials, for example, have reported a great increase in bookings from both European and Japanese as visitors from those areas take advantage of their stronger currencies relative to the dollar. The US dollar is near an all-time low against the euro, which began circulating in January 2002, and is close to a five-year low against the Japanese yen. The British pound is trading at nearly two to a dollar. United Airlines starts direct San Francisco to Vietnam Flights. The first commercial flight in nearly 30 years from the United States to Vietnam took off on December 13 asUnited Airlines flight 869 departed San Francisco International Airport bound for Ho Chi Minh City. "The flight represents the beginning of a new relationship between the two countries after the Vietnam War", said airport spokesman Mike McCarron. The last commercial flight from the U.S. to Vietnam was in 1975. Celebrities including San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Counsel General of Vietnam Truan Tuan Ahn, Baywatch television actor David Hasselhoff, spokesman and Board Member for "Wheels for Humanity," and United Executive Vice President Peter McDonald were on hand to inaugurate the historic flight, said McCarron. Wheels for Humanity is a charity group that donates wheelchairs to impoverished nations. San Francisco is home to the United States' second largest Vietnamese-American community, reports McCarron. Hollywood Lawsuits Shut Down File Sharing Networks. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), led by famous Hollywood movie studios, launched a series of worldwide legal actions, aimed to people who run the infrastructure for BitTorrent networks being used to distribute movies and other copyrighted materials without permission. BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing network designed to distribute large files efficiently, grew quickly in popularity this year until it accounted for for more than a third of all traffic on the Internet. Much of this traffic was dedicated to full-length, high-quality movies and software. The MPAA's actions have put pressure on a of large Web sites that had served as hubs for the BitTorrent community. Many of those sites have now vanished, including the SuprNova.org site that was by far the most popular gathering point for the community, serving more than a million people a day. Burmese Villagers Sue Unicol for Human Rights Abuse. Unocal, the US $11 billion oil company headquartered in El Segundo, California is being held liable by a group of Burmese villagers for human right abuses committed by a business partner in Burma in a case before the California Superior Court. The case has caused disquiet within the US business community. The plaintiffs claim that between 1993 and 1996 Burma Army soldiers hired by a consortium of which Unocal was a major partner, enslaved, raped, tortured and in some cases murdered members of their families during the construction of a gas pipeline in Burma. The plaintiffs, who remain anonymous for fear of repercussions against family members still inside Burma, are backed by the NGO EarthRights International. No other human rights case against a corporation has gotten as far in the judicial process. Human rights lawyers hope they have found a way to legally enforce human rights conventions on multi-national corporations. The federal Unocal case rests on the 1789 Alien Tort Claims Act, or ATCA, originally put in place to allow non-US citizens to seek redress in American courts for crimes such as piracy on the high seas. Many in the business community, especially large multinational Corporations, are extremely concerned about precedents that may be set in this case. The Institute for International Economics, or IIE, a non-partisan think tank has warned that this case amount to "Judicial Imperialism" and imagines a nightmare scenario where, for instance, in China "withthin the next decade, 100,000 class action Chinese plaintiffs could sue General Motors, Toyota, General Electric, Mitsubishi, and a host of other blue-chip corporations in a US federal court for abetting China's denial of political rights". In May 2003 the Justice Department filed a brief on behalf of Unocal claiming that the case represented a misapplication of ATCA that could deter future economic engagement with foreign countries. After eight years of litigation in federal and state courts, a trial date for the California State case has been set for June 21, 2005. Oracle takes control of Peoplesoft. Redwood Shores Based Oracle took control of PeopleSoft after a long bitter takeover battle and has acquired 75 percent of its rival's stock, putting the $10.3 billion software buyout on track to be completed in early January. Oracle also announced that it has taken majority control of PeopleSoft's board. Four PeopleSoft board members have resigned and have been replaced by Oracle Co-presidents Safra Catz and Charles Phillips, Oracle Chief Financial Officer Harry You and Oracle general counsel Dan Cooperman. PeopleSoft board members George ``Skip'' Battle and Steven Goldby will remain for the transition. Redwood Shores-based Oracle also set a new deadline for PeopleSoft shareholders to tender additional stock under the $26.50-a-share offer. Oracle can finalize the takeover after it gains control of at least 90 percent of PeopleSoft's shares and said it expects to complete the two-step merger shortly after January 4th. That will a end a 18-month battle between the two Silicon Valley rivals and turn Oracle into the world's second-largest business software company. Nokia forms $100 million Later-Stage Fund. Nokia Venture Partners, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology companies announced the formation of a new mid- to late-stage $100 million venture capital fund, Nokia Growth Partners. The new fund, founded to complement the continuing early-stage investing activities of Nokia Venture Partners, will be led by Markus Salolainen and Rob Trice, who have been promoted to General Partner. Similar to other existing Nokia Venture Partners' funds, Nokia Growth Partners will have a global footprint and ROI-focus. Unlike Nokia Venture Partners' current fund with multiple Limited Partners, Nokia Growth Partners will have Nokia as its sole Limited Partner. Nokia Growth Partners will invest in innovative mobile technology companies from around the world that have commercially available product, are experiencing significant revenue growth, and beginning to experience adoption by large companies such as Nokia. Salolainen and Trice will be the General Partners of Nokia Growth Partners. Salolainen, based in London, will co-manage the Nokia Growth Partners fund with Trice, based in Menlo Park. Edison International Sells International Portfolio. Edison Mission Energy (EME) of Rosemead and its parent Edison International announced that they have completed the sale of their international power generation portfolio, owned by a Dutch holding company to a consortium comprised of International Power plc and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. The closing of the sale of the includes 10 of the 13 international projects included in the Purchase and Sale Agreement announced July 30th, one of the remaining three being purchased by a project partner pursuant to a right of first refusal (CBK in the Philippines) and the other two being projects (Tri-Energy in Thailand and Doga in Turkey) for which project level consents could not be obtained in time for the sale. Consideration from the sale was approximately $2.0 billion in cash. Together with the closing of the sale of its interest in Contact Energy, completed September 30, the sale by EME of its international assets is now substantially complete and has resulted thus far in the receipt of total cash proceeds in the amount of $2.7 billion. The sale is the result of a previously announced process to sell EME's portfolio of 14 international energy assets located in Europe, the Asia Pacific region and Puerto Rico. Edison Mission Energy is a subsidiary of Rosemead, Calif.-based Edison International. eHarmony Dating Site Gets $110 Million Investment. Matchmaking Internet site eHarmony has landed a $110 million investment from two Silicon Valley venture capital firms, scoring one of the biggest funding deals of the year. According to a report in the San Jose Mercury News, the funding from Sequoia Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures surprised some industry watchers, who said that the once red-hot market for Internet dating services has been showing signs of cooling off. ``That's a shocking amount of money to give to this company,'' Nate Elliott, analyst with market research firm Jupiter Research, said Tuesday. ``They're doing well by all accounts, but they don't own the market by any stretch'. EHarmony, based in Pasadena, is an online dating service that targets singles seeking long-term relationships and marriage rather than casual dating. Analysts said the total market for Internet personals is estimated to be about $450 million a year, making it the largest category of paid online content. Kyocera Wireless Cuts 160 Jobs in San Diego. The San Diego-based cell phone maker Kyocera Wireless is laying off 160 workers and moving more of its manufacturing to a maquiladora it operates in Mexico. The workers, who include operators, inspectors, technicians and supervisors at Kyocera's manufacturing plant near University City, represent about 7 percent of Kyocera's work force in the United States. At the same time, Kyocera Wireless is consolidating more of its operations with that of its parent, Kyocera International, a Japanese conglomerate that makes everything from materials for dental implants to electronics components. California Cold Harms Strawberry Crops. The long cold snap in December broke records and damaged some of the state's strawberry crop. About 50 percent of growers' new crops in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles were damaged, according to agricultural officials. Produce farmers, including those growing citrus and avocado, used giant fans and irrigation the to keep their crops from freezing. Industry watchers reported no damage to orange, lemon, grapefruit and avocado crops.
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California State University Monterey Bay founding president Peter Smith resigned from his post and has accepted a United Nations assignment in Paris. Smith accepted the post as assistant director-general for education at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, after a series of interviews in Paris. "It is an extraordinary job and an opportunity to make a difference, which is what it would take to get me away from CSUMB, which I love. It's been life changing for me here," Smith said.He will oversee a staff of 190 who work in 56 field offices, including regional bureaus in Dakar, Senegal; Bangkok, Thailand; Beirut, Lebanon; and Santiago, Chile, and will travel regularly to many of the bureaus. Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky joined an international delegation in Ukraine to observe its presidential election. The 30-member delegation, sponsored by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, was invited by the major political parties and blocs in Ukraine to attend the repeat presidential election between Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich and Viktor Yushchenko. World Bank President James Wolfensohn said that he expects to leave his post after his second term ends in June. Wolfensohn, a Clinton appointee, said on an ABC new program that his 10-year run as head of the global lender was "probably enough". The White House is considering U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick a possible replacement. The World Bank, a branch of the United Nations, is made up of 184 shareholder countries that are responsible for financing the bank and deciding where money will be spent. The president of the institution is traditionally a citizen of its largest shareholder - and this has always been the United States. Other large shareholders include France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. Escondido anti-war activist Fernando Suarez del Solar returned to Iraq over Christmas to bring aid to children made refugees by the war. Suarez, who described himself as a former "newspaper deliveryman and 7-Eleven cashier," has become a tireless peace activist since his 20-year-old son, Lance Cpl. Jesus del Solar, was killed March 27, 2003. He and his wife, Rosa, arrived in Jordan the day after Christmas as part of a 14-member delegation. The group, comprised of mothers of soldiers killed in Iraq and relatives of victims who died in the World Trade Center attack Sept. 11, 2001, planed to spend 11 days handing out $100,000 of donated medical supplies and buying food and water for children in refugee camps along the Jordan-Iraq border. Through an interpreter, Suarez said in his native Spanish that hundreds of thousands of people, families and children were forced to leave their homes in war-torn Fallujah when U.S. Marines attacked to drive out insurgents. Mr. Masahiro
Andachi, Asia Pacific Regional Director for LA INC. The Convention and
Visitors Bureau/Los Angeles World Airports, was elected to the board of
directors for the Japan Visit USA Committee at the committee's annual
general assembly on Dec. 8. Andachi will serve a two-year term on the
board in 2005 and 2006. Andachi was promoted in February 2004
to director, where he is responsible for developing strategies to increase
the number of visitors to Los Angeles from Asia and the Pacific region,
including Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Australia. He will work directly with
travel wholesalers and airlines to strengthen LA's tour offerings from
these markets. The Japan Visit USA Committee is a private, not-for-profit
organization dedicated to promoting and selling the United States as a
destination to the Japanese market through its membership, which consists
of U.S. travel suppliers and Japanese airlines, as well as Japanese tour
operators and other Japanese travel-related businesses.
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It took more than a year of letter writing and phone calls, but we were finally able to speak briefly with one of Governor Schwarzenegger's advisors. Mr. David Crane is the Governor's pecial advisor to the Governor for Jobs and Economic Growth. Before joining the administration, Mr. Crane worked at Babcock & Brown, a financial services firm headquartered in San Francisco where he helped to build the firm into a worldwide business that has arranged over $250 billion of financings. We had three objectives in asking to speak with him- one: we wanted to know if the State had a strategy for international business development, two: we wanted to know how we could provide input to this strategy and if a communication channel to the State government could be opened, and three: we wanted to introduce him to the objectives of the California Trade Network. Unfortunately, we more of less struck out on all three counts during this brief conversation but we were able to glean a bit more about their economic philosophy. We started by asking about the Governor's trip to Japan, and noting that while we though it was highly appropriate for the Governor to be meeting with the heads of big Corporations- for example the President of Toyota, what about smaller foreign companies that want to do business with California- there is currently no central place for them to go. "They can go the the Freight Forwarders", he said- noting that this group is often well attuned to international trade developments in the State. We also wanted to know what, if anything, the Government wanted to do to help the large number of small businesses in California, and mentioned a recent census report that there were 1.2 million "zero employee companies" - the largest of any state. He didn't reveal any specific plans for that community but mentioned "foreign direct investment" - i.e. getting foreigners to open businesses in the State, as a way to help the economy as a whole. When we said that one of our objectives was to establish a service that would be open to everyone in California he saw this as an attempt to create a "monopoly" rather than a system for sharing information. "You're not Microsoft!" he admonished us, and revealed his dislike of monopolies. That's why I am one of the one's opposed to starting new trade offices", he said- "they are really just monopolies". He mentioned that they sometimes work through local Economic Development Agencies but "they are monopolies too". We asked again if there was any central or coordinated approach planned by the Government for international business development and he indicated a preference for a more general, broad based approach, "let a thousand flowers bloom", he said, quoting Mao Tse-Tung and ending the conversation. Having struck out again with the Schwarzenegger administration, we tried again with the office of Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante. Several people commented that when we reported that the Lt. Governor was establishing "unofficial" trade offices that there seemed to separate Democratic and Republican approaches to this issue. After discussions with both the Lt. Governor's office and another representative of the Governor's office we can confirm that this seems to be the case. Cameron Durkle, the Governor's representative in the San Diego office said, when pressed, that there was "no connection" with the Bustamante initiatives and that "they can do what they want". We spoke with John Almanza, the Director of International Relations in the Lt. Governor's office with the same three objectives. Here we found a much more receptive and engaged audience but were left with the impression that whatever strategy they are forming is still in the early stages of development. We mostly wanted to know what was going on with the Trade Offices, which he emphasized should be called "Trade Forums" but were unable to even get contact information for these overseas groups. Lt. Governor Bustamante has established these offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and India but Mr. Almanza wasn't sure if he was authorized to release this information. When I said that a "secret" trade office hardly made sense, he said that they were still in the process of figuring out what to do, and hadn't received any policy guidelines in this area. H e did however, ask the right questions and understood the goals of the California Trade Network, "I applaud what you are doing", he said.Sacramento Bee Columnist Dan Walters has reported on the curious way that a political, but relatively mild comment made by Governor Schwarzenegger had exploded into a right wing political issue. Last week,. Schwarzenegger was interviewed by a German reporter for a Berlin newspaper. The interview was conducted in English and the Governor said, "I think that right now the Republican Party is all the way from the right to the center. And the Democratic Party is all the way from the left to the center. And I like the Republican Party to cross that center line. Keep it to the right where it is, but I mean cross over that center line a little bit, because that would take immediately away 5 percent from the Democrats and be home free for good. That's the trick". The German language interview was translated back into English and the Associated Press inaccurately quoted Schwarzenegger, as saying he wanted Republicans to move "a little to the left". On a slow news day, ranting conservatives on Fox News talk shows used this mild misquote to bash Schwarzenegger for proposing that the Republican party "move to the left". Then right-wing Christians, never overly concerned about matters of truth or honesty, distributed a version of Schwarzenegger's remarks, headlined: "Schwarzenegger shows ignorance and disrespect" and claimed that the Governor said that the Republican party, "should move to the left and embrace both gay marriage and abortion rights" - even though the Governor said nothing of the sort. This article published by the Christian Wire Service went on to attack the Governor for being arrogant and "spending too much time in Hollywood". The San Francisco Chronicle has reported that Democratic State Senator Gloria Romero of Los Angeles has "opened a can of worms" by raising the issue of the 28,672 foreigners in California prisons who cost taxpayers a staggering sum to feed and house, and half of whom are illegal immigrants from Mexico. Romero's had a hearing about this issue on Dec. 16 in Los Angeles where diplomats from the consulates of Canada, Germany and Sweden testified about fixing a flawed country-to-country prisoner transfer program that the Schwarzenegger administration hopes can someday send up to 6,400 eligible prisoners home. Mexican officials failed to respond to Romero's invitation to testify so that morning, Romero's aide telephoned the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles. According to Sen. Romero, Mexico claimed that "because of budgetary concerns, they could not fly the appropriate consulate [official]" from Mexico. Said Romero: "I am very disappointed at their failure to participate ... We stressed that a local consulate official was sufficient". That day in Los Angeles, she publicly criticized the Mexican government, presented data on the staggering $500 million to $800 million a year paid by California taxpayers to house foreign prisoners. In 2003, Mexico took back only 109 prisoners from the United States, even though in California alone, 17,500 prisoners are Mexican nationals -- including more than 14,000 illegal immigrants. Columnist Jill Stewart of the Chronicle commended Senator Romero for taking a stand that took some political courage.
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Bay Area International Development Experts. In looking for California NGOs responding to the Tsunami disaster, we found this interesting list of International Development Experts in the Bay Area International. This list is from the Bay Area International Development Organization (BAIDO) website, and we would like to know if there are similar resources in other parts of the State: http://www.baido.org/resources/experts.php#economics Competition for
International Development Award. The Development Gateway is
seeking nominations for the second Development Gateway Award. The $100,000
award will recognize outstanding achievement in using information and
communication technologies (ICT) to improve people's lives in developing
countries. The first awardwas given earlier this year to the Grameen
Bank-Village Phone project, through which women entrepreneurs can start a
business providing wireless payphone service in rural areas of Bangladesh.
An international panel of independent jurors will review and select the
finalists and winner of the second award, which will be presented in
mid-2005. The deadline for submission is February 28, 2005. For
information, rules, and access to the online nomination form, please go
to:http://home.developmentgateway College Trade Centers to
Deliver Agriculture Export Readiness Training. The California
Centers for International Trade Development (CITDs) have been awarded a
$250,000 contract has by the Western United States Agricultural Trade
Association (WUSATA) through the USDA Emerging Markets Program to provide
Export Readiness Training to small- and medium-sized, women- and
minority-owned food and agricultural companies throughout
California.
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January 10-12: Modesto, Trade Tune-Up. First of a three session seminar on tariff classifications, NAFTA rules of origin and Mexico and Canada documentation. Presented by Merced College Center for International Trade Development and co sponsored by the Alliance Small Business Development Center and the Sacramento Regional Center for International Trade Development. Sessions run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and registration costs $225 before Jan. 5 and $285 after that date. For information, call 384-5892. January 10-11: San Jose, Post-CES Asia Delegation Program in Silicon Valley. U.S. Embassy-led Consumer Electronics Show 2005 delegations and commercial specialists from several countries in Asia, including China and Japan. Organized by U.S. Commercial Services. Agenda and registration link: http://www.buyusa.gov/siliconvalley/cesprogram.html Jan 10: Santa Clara,
Business Opportunities in Penang, Malaysia. Discussion
withDr. Tsu-Koon KOH - January 11: Los Angeles, University Technology Transfer Finally Poised to Be Big. Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA) presents a panel of experts that will review what universities are doing to make tech transfer happen, and how venture capitalists and angel investors have been positioning themselves to assume the high risks of technology, http://www.lava.org/eventdetails.php?eventid=179 January 10-11: San Jose, A Roundtable Dialogue with the Rt Hon. Chief Minister of Penang, Malaysia. Registration & fee information: http://www.buyusa.gov/siliconvalley/postces2005.html January 13: Los Angeles, G'day LA, Australia week in Los Angeles. MEL Gibson, Nicole Kidman and country singer Keith Urban will spearhead an Australian push for increased trade with California. Greg Norman, Delta Goodrem, Steve Irwin and Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins are also giving their time free for a series of promotional events in Los Angeles. The week-long, Government-sponsored campaign "G'day LA" starts on January 13. It will feature fashion, sports, food and other trade shows of Australian products.Event is produced through a partnership between the Australian Consulate in Los Angeles, the Dept. of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Tourism Australia, AusTrade and Qantas Airways. Information link:http://www.australia-week.com/2005/content/events/index.html January 13: Santa Monica,
Ye Olde King's Head Mixer. Sponsored by the British American
Business Council Los Angeles. Please join us at Ye Olde King's Head
for our first mixer of the year! This is always a favourite pub with
the BABC anda great way to start the New Year. LocationLYe Olde King's
Head,116 Santa Monica Blvd.Santa Monica, CA 90401, Time:6:00pm - 8:00pm,
Cost:BABC Members $10 ~ Non-Members $20 ~ Day of event $15 for all
attendees Jan 19: San Francisco, Round Table at the Mexican Consulate with experts in Financial Issues.Will include the presence of one speaker from Bank Of America giving information on the Bank Loans Programs. Contact:Bernardo Mendez,Consul for Trade and Business Promotion, 415-354-1731 January 20: Los Angeles, Export Seminar Series: #4 International Matchmaking. The fourth session of the seminar series will take place on Jan. 20 at the LA Area Chamber. This session will teach participants how to find, screen and select qualified buyers and distributors, negotiate favorable contracts and agreements, and maintain the partner relationship over time. Cost: $45 per session. To register, please fill out the Export Seminar Series form and fax back. Registration must be received three days prior to the actual class session. For more information, contact International Trade Manager Moises Cisneros, 213.580.7569. January 20: Los Angeles, Entrepreneurship Series #4:
Protecting Your Technology: Intellectual Property Rights
January 25: Long Beach, Global Logistics Specialist - Module One.Long Beach. A five evening program. Presented by the Center for International Trade and Transportation at California State University - Long Beach. 562-296-1170. January 25-26: Santa Clara, Complying with US Export Controls Workshop.Santa Clara. Presented by the US Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security. 949-660-0144. January 26: Palo Alto, The Digital Home: are we there yet? HighTech exchange panel discussion sponsored by the French-American Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco. , Hosted by Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, Time: 6pm. For more information, visit http://www.faccsf.com/htcommittee.html . February 1-2: Rancho Mirage: Nanotech Investing Conference. BF's 4th Annual Nanotech Investing Conference will cover investing trends, deal structures, intellectual property, and the commercialization process of nanotechnology. http://echo.bluehornet.com/ct/ct.php?t=826025&c=477346934&m=m&type=1 February 2: San Jose, Untapped Opportunities in the Chinese Telecommunication Market. A Business Promotion and Informational Seminar. Registration & fee information: Call 1-800-665-3609 http://www.apucc.org/calendar/02-26-2005/default.htm Feb. 8-10: Tulare, World Ag Expo 2005, Spaces are still available for the World Ag Expo 2005, but they likely won't be for long.Interested exhibitors are urged to contact World Ag Expo quickly for details. Most of the spaces available are located inside pavilions. The Expowill offer companies exposure to attendees from across the state and the nation, as well as international visitors from more than 50 nations. There will be new exhibits this year, including the California Crop Center, with seminars and specialized displays focusing on California's farm economy. Educational seminars will still be offered, as well as the Tractor Ride and Drive, product displays and demonstrations. World Ag Expo, contact George Wilson at the International Agri-Center, 1-800-999-9186, or 688-1751. Exhibitors can also register online at www.farmshow.org.
Please send events for listing here to caltrade@gmail.com. If your event is near the first of the month, please make sure we get your listing at least 5 weeks in advance. | |
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Doing Things Backwards When I was in Junior High School, I read a science fiction story about a group of aliens who invaded the world's oceans. At first, humanity was alarmed, but then it became apparent that the aliens meant us no harm, and in fact were quite friendly. They lived under water, on land we didn't need, and it turned out that they were adept traders- selling us all matter of new technologies and food farmed from the sea. The aliens population and undersea economy was growing rapidly and a brisk trade developed between the two species that greatly improved the human economy. After a while, however, there wasn't much left for humans to sell to the aliens that they didn't already have, and the human economy began to decline. The alien economy and population continued to grow rapidly however, and soon they began to offer premium prices for costal land which they would reclaim for the sea by the use of explosives. This helped revive the human economy, and eager coastal land owners happily sold their land for the astronomical prices that aliens started paying. Soon, the human economy was booming again as successive owners of costal land became wealthy by selling their land to the aliens. The problem, of course, was that there was less land to live on, but the prices were so good that land owners continues to sell. When some humans tried to raise alarms about the shrinking amount of land, they were attacked as being "anti business" by other humans who were becoming rich from conducting commerce with the aliens. The alien population and economy continued to grow, and the human land continued to shrink, until soon all the continents were little more than large islands- still, the humans, driven by greed, kept selling their land. I don't want to reveal exactly what happened next, but let's just say this story didn't have a fairy tale ending. Now I'm not saying that the situation in California is anything like the situation faced by the hapless humans in this story, but there are disturbing indications that we are doing many things backwards and may have even lost the ability to act in our own interests. The entire system is geared towards imports, of that there can be no doubt- but what is alarming is we seen to be doing everything we can to encourage more importing, and almost nothing to help our own companies engage in international business. The California Ports are a good example. While they are by far the most powerful organizations involved in international trade in the State, almost all their efforts involve encouraging imports- for the simple reason that it is where they make their money. Several of the Ports have marketing employees stationed overseas who's sole mission is to encourage imports into California, while there are no equivalent programs of this magnitude to encourage the export of our products and services. Another example is California colleges and universities. Almost all or our educational institutions have active programs to recruit overseas students- they say because this enriches the educational experience for everyone. That may be true, but Americans desperately need more international experience and most of our efforts involve working to give foreign students better international experience- again because that is where the money is. Put another way, we may be using our own resources to train future competitors- rather than organizing exchange programs where we learn from each other. Still another example is Economic Development Agencies. California has at least one Economic Development Agency in every County- and also in most major cities. There has been a recent proliferation of "trade missions" - mostly to China- by officials of these groups. Now we don't bemoan anyone an occasional junket but isn't it fair to ask, "what have you done for us lately?" We assume this trips occasionally score a deal or some "foreign direct investment" but from what we have seen in some of their press releases is mostly hype and self congratulations. Actually, some of the "successes" of these groups scare us more than their failures. As we reported last month, the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation recently announced "the China Opportunity Fund" that is capitalized at a whopping 30 million dollars. The Fund Manager described their objectives: "We will work with our overseas investors to identify those ventures with the most international fast growth promise and bring their management teams to Southern California to develop into successful global businesses". Further, they plan to use the Los Angeles County Business Technology Incubato to "help build these Chinese ventures and then as they grow will help site them throughout the area". We don't want to criticize this effort- we are sure it has some positive attributes, but wouldn't it be nice is something remotely similar was offered for our own American companies and small businesses? California also has many business and trade associations- chambers and the like, and some of them do great work. Others, however, exist mostly for the benefit of their staff and they seldom share information with people outside their own organization. This is partly because of an inherent disadvantage of "membership organizations" - they see the primary "benefit" they offer their members contact with other members- so they build and jealously guard their own rolodexes. "It's an outmoded business model" said one staff member at a World Trade Center, who didn't want to be identified. They seldom discuss it publicly, but their member-base numbers have been shrinking for years. Although they are also shrinking in influence, many are supported by some of California's biggest corporations and they have managed to squeeze out smaller and more innovative groups in some areas. The saddest situation of all, however, is probably our own State government. The failure of the State's Trade Agency afforded an opportunity to take a fresh, and in depth look at the appropriate role of Government in this area and a serious look at alternative approaches. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find anyone in the Schwarzenegger administration who can explain of the State's international business strategy- if there is one, or even how citizens can give input on this matter. In his first "State of the State" address the Governor said, "I want your ideas, and the more radical the better" - but he never explained how to do that and we have yet to find anyone who has described this administration as "receptive to new ideas". In our first newsletter we wrote and editorial entitled, "Is Laissez Faire right for California" and noted that many of the Governor's statements seemed like the classic Laissez Faire (meaning 'leave us alone") philosophy of the 18th century. In his famous "economic girlie men" comment at the Republican Convention he said, "Don't you remember the pessimism of 20 years ago, when the critics said Japan and Germany are overtaking the U.S.? Ridiculous. Now, they say that India and China are overtaking us. Don't you believe it. We may hit a few bumps, but America always moves ahead. That's what Americans do". Translated another way we could say, "as long as the government does absolutely nothing, everything will be great". It would be very cool if this was true, but this is a potentially dangerous philosophy. China and India are vastly bigger than us in population and are generating large numbers of highly skilled and educated professionals. In other words, we are greatly outnumbered by very smart people- and no one seems to be doing much about it. Yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger gave his second "state if the State" address and we listened carefully to see if we could at least learn more about his economic philosophy. It was a short speech, but this one statement caught our ear, "We have such great entrepreneurial drive in this state. All we must do to enjoy its benefits is to let it loose and get out of the way": Really? Which entrepreneurs said you were in the way? We hate to say it, but it seems more and more like the Governor must be getting all his business policy advice exclusively from large Corporate interests. We would like to see some more sophistication in international business policy and more open mindedness with small business ideas and concerns. Otherwise, someone eventually will have to say " the emperor wears no clothes" and we don't want to be the ones to do that- we really don't want to be the ones to do that..
Rob Gordon San Diego, California
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The California Trade Network The California Trade Network is a small business, private sector initiative with the goal of providing high quality information and communication services for California's international business community. This is a commercial service but we are offering an array of free services as a benefit to internationally-oriented companies and professionals in California. This includes the California International Business Directory which we are actively working to make a central registry of firms in California with international business interests. We also operate a Trade Opportunity Database as well as several other information services and on-line business forums. We are also developing more sophisticated commercial services including an international trade opportunity matching service and higher quality information content and communication services. We are especially excited about the new CALTRADE Community Portal it uses a business networking technology that can be used for communication and collaboration among international business professionals- and it even has with integrated Internet Telephony for free international calling. This has just finished beta testing and is moving into a soft launch- trial accounts are available. We are actively looking for partners and sponsors for these initiatives so please contact us if you would like to discuss business possibilities. For more information about the current services of the California Trade Network please see this link or visit us on the web at: This report is published by the California Trade Network and we are solely responsible for its content. Please send comments, suggestions, corrections and ideas for inclusion to CALTRADE@gmail.com or call 858-483-7250. We will also consider short opt-ed pieces. This is part of an outreach effort to the international business community in California. Please help us by using the link at the bottom to forward this to the person responsible for international business development in your organization, or to your associates who may be interested in this topic. To remove yourself from this mailing list use the "unsubscribe" link at at the lower left. Also use the unsubscribe link if you want this delivered to a different email address- the current delivery address will be removed and a form will display that will allow you to enter a new email address. | |
