California INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Report | |
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CONTENTS |
Mega Deals in Internet Sector There has been a slew of huge deals in the Internet sector involving California-based companies as these companies scramble to position themselves in the global markets. Yahoo is investing a billion dollars in the Chinese trade portal Alibaba (see article below), eBay has offered to buy the Internet telephony company Skype, Oracle is buying the CRM (customer relations management) Siebel, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch who is on a major buying spree, has purchased IGN Entertainment, the video games giant in a deal said to be worth $650 million and MySpace.com, the fastest growing social-networking portal. Google, meanwhile, has continued its quest to control the known universe and is raising another $4 billion and speculation on its plans has become a popular pastime in Silicon Valley- though because of a recent phone conference with investors many believe a major move in the Chinese market is about to take place. "China" is the common denominator in many of these deals but there are disturbing indications that the Chinese government is becoming more aggressive in censoring Internet content. These stories, plus commentary on the disasterous Government failure in the wake of Hurricane Katrina are in this latest issue of the California International Business Report.. ------------- Thank you for continuing to receive the California International Business Report. Please take a moment to formally subscribe at the link at the bottom or unsubscribe if you don't want to receive this. Please also read an important announcement about our new "Trade Opportunity Matching" service at the bottom of this page. |
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Yahoo! Invests $1 Billion in Chinese Trade Portal
The Yahoo-Alibaba deal will be the largest investment Chinese Internet companies have received from their foreign counterparts seeking a share of a market with nearly 100 million Internet users. The deal is also significant in that Yahoo has ceded control of its China operations to Alibaba's management. Mr. Ma will retain his position at Alibaba after the deal is completed and Yahoo will get only 35 percent voting rights. Ma will also have full authority over all of Yahoo!'s 600 China-based employees. Some analysts said that winning these employees over may prove to be a challenge, and the President of Yahoo! China, Zhou Hongyi, has already announced his resignation saying that he didn't think the Alibaba transaction made sense, "Alibaba has its own business-to-business and consumer-to-consumer revenue models, while Yahoo! is strong in search engines and e-mails," says Zhou, "The revenue models don't match." Yahoo!, of Sunnyvale, runs the world's most-visited Web portal and is expanding in China to tap a market where the number of Web users has grown sevenfold in eight years to 94 million. China's online-auction market is expected to expand sixfold to $2.6 billion by 2007, Beijing-based market researcher iResearch forecasts. eBay and Alibaba.com's online auction marketplace, Taobao.com have been engaged in a high-profile fight for dominance in China's online auction sector which is expected to see its transaction volume grow by 75 percent in 2006. Together, Alibaba and Yahoo! will knock San Jose, Calif.-based eBay from the No. 1 spot. eBay's EachNet site controlled 39 percent of China's consumer online-auction market at the end of 2004, and Alibaba's Taobao.com had 37 percent. Alibaba spokesman Porter Erisman referred to the deal as "the knockout punch for eBay in China". Yahoo! entered China when it bought Zhou's Hong Kong-based 3721 Network Software for about $120 million in November 2003, gaining control of what's now China's No. 2 Internet search engine. 3721, China's biggest search engine when Yahoo! bought it, had a 32 percent market share as of March 31, according to iResearch. Market leader Baidu.com had a 37 percent share, and No. 3 Google -- which bought a 2.6 percent stake in Baidu.com last year -- had 19 percent. Alibaba doesn't operate a search engine for consumers. Ma says he plans to spend some of the proceeds from Yahoo!'s investment to strengthen the search-engine unit. "We're going after Baidu.com for the No. 1 spot in China," Ma said at the Beijing news conference announcing the Alibaba deal. "Google is history as far as I'm concerned". The Yahoo!-Alibaba deal, negotiated over the past three months by Ma and Yang, was developed in early May during the U.S.-China IT Executive Summit in Pebble Beach. Ma says he became friends with Yang in 1998, four years after Yahoo!'s founding. Yang, who was born in Taiwan and grew up in San Jose, was visiting China to explore his cultural homeland and the country's Internet market. At the time, Ma's first project -- Hangzhou Hope Networks Consulting, an online directory of Chinese businesses that he founded in 1995 -- had just been shut in a government crackdown on Internet sites. Ma founded Alibaba in 1999 with $25 million from venture capitalists. Current shareholders include Fidelity Capital, a unit of Boston-based Fidelity Investments; Granite Global Ventures, based in Menlo Park, California; and Singapore-based Venture TDF and Transpac Capital. Ma will be the chief executive of the combined company and sit on the board of directors with Yang, Softbank President Masayoshi Son -- an original Yahoo! shareholder -- and Tsai, the companies say. Unlike Yahoo! China's Zhou, who ultimately reported to Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel, Ma will be accountable only to the Alibaba board, Rosensweig says. Yahoo! expects the transaction to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2005. Los Angeles and San Francisco both want the 2016 Olympics. Both Los Angeles and San Francisco announced plans to bid for the 2016 Olympics within a week of each other this month and organizing committees are being formed in both cities. Los Angeles will be trying for its third Summer Olympics, and organizers pledged to hold the Games at no cost to taxpayers. The 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles were the first to turn a profit, heavily involving corporate sponsorships in the Games. Los Angeles also hosted the 1932 Olympics, the only U.S. city to hold the Summer Games twice. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Barry Sanders, chairman of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, said the United States Olympic Committee is being notified of the city's intention to bid for the Games. Villaraigosa said the city is proud of its Olympic history and ready to expand on it. "We're a community built for the Olympic Games. We have world-class sporting venues and we have a history of success". Los Angeles already has many available sports venues, including the Coliseum used in both previous Olympics, the downtown Staples Center, the soccer fields at the Home Depot Center in suburban Carson and the Arrowhead Pond arena in Anaheim. Mayor Gavin Newsom also confirmed that San Francisco will seek the games and will produce a formal proposal from the region to host the 2016 Summer Games. "I just can't imagine a better place for the summer Olympics,'' Newsom said. The Bay Area placed second, after New York City, in its attempt three years ago to be the United States' candidate city to host the 2012 Summer Olympics - a contest eventually won by London. "We are ready to go. We know we are going to do it," Newsom said. "I believe there was a lot of politics last time around. I think we had the strongest bid". Newsom said a new 49ers stadium could be an "integral" part of the bid, but he said city and team officials are still discussing a deal to build a new facility at Candlestick Point. A third California city- San Diego, has floated the idea of hosting the Olympics as bi-national games in the San Diego-Tijuana Metropolitan area. The concept is being pushed by local real estate developer Malin Burnham, and while it is considered to be a long shot, it hasn't been dismissed entirely. Three years ago, Burnham pitched his binational concept to IOC President Jacques Rogge over dinner in Switzerland and he continues to correspond with USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth. Significantly, he says, neither Rogge nor Ueberroth has discouraged his beyond-the-border thinking. "Uniformly, people have been very positive," Burnham said. "I never will forget (Rogge's) expression or what he said. He said, 'My, that's never been done before.' Then he took a short pause and said, 'Why not?' " Mr. Burnham seemed undeterred that Los Angeles and San Francisco have also decided to bid. I think it bodes well for California," Burnham said. "There's always a possibility that we could combine. It's possible that all of California could combine. The more interest we have in this locale, the better chance we have". The USOC will decide in 2007 which American city's bid will be submitted to the International Olympic Committee. The IOC will select the host city in 2009. Non-profits used as Cover for Governor's Fundraising. According to an investigative report in the Los Angeles Times, Governor Schwarzenegger is benefiting from millions of dollars raised by a network of tax-exempt groups without revealing that the money comes from major corporations with business before his office. The groups are run by Schwarzenegger's political allies, who also represent some of California's biggest interest groups. Unlike the governor's many campaign funds, the nonprofits are not required to disclose their contributors and can accept unlimited amounts. One group controlled by a corporate consultant pays the $6,000-a-month rent on a Sacramento hotel suite used by the governor, others have funded media events and political rallies featuring Schwarzenegger and helped pay for his foreign travel. So far, five tax-exempt groups aiding Schwarzenegger have collected $3 million. State and federal laws allow groups performing a broadly defined "public benefit" to operate tax exempt. But the lack of disclosure requirements means potential conflicts of interests between the governor and his contributors remain hidden, allowing powerful donors to curry favor with Schwarzenegger behind the scenes, the report revealed. State law requires that politicians disclose contributions to nonprofits made at their "behest," but Schwarzenegger's attorneys say it does not apply to the donations at issue. Democrats disagree and have filed a formal complaint. One of the organizations, the California Commission on Jobs and Economic Growth, has raised $1 million from corporate donors and staged events in California and abroad featuring Schwarzenegger as a way to promote economic development. The group is run by a San Francisco lobbyist, Mark Mosher, who the Times reported has corporate clients that include Motorola, Clear Channel billboard company and Verizon Wireless. The commission's board of directors includes such business executives as Gap Inc. Chairman Donald Fisher, Edison International President and Chairman John Bryson and Fox Entertainment Group Chairman and chief executive Peter Chernin. The $1 million came from a variety of firms affected by state actions. Wells Fargo Bank, which regularly lobbies the government on mortgage issues, student lending and identity theft, gave $100,000. This year, Wells Fargo is actively supporting or actively opposing two dozen bills in the Legislature. In another case, last September, Schwarzenegger's aides said the governor would not accept contributions from Pacific Gas & Electric and other utilities — to avoid any appearance of conflict as he drafted a state energy policy. But the jobs commission took a $100,000 donation from PG&E a month later. The commission also received $100,000 from Southern California Edison. The Sacramento Bee has reported that the Governor has also broken his campaign promise and is now taking campaign contributions from trade associations with a stake in legislation that could wind up on his desk. At a fundraiser at Sacramento's Sutter Club five members of the host committee were trade associations with interests in pending legislation and each paid at least $25,000 to get in. "We're raising a lot of money," said The Governor's fundraiser Marty Wilson, "We just realized the trade organizations raise money for political purposes, and this is a more efficient way of raising money". The California Restaurant Association hosted a $500-a-person lunch in Los Angeles for Schwarzenegger. Among other things, the association has lobbied him against mandatory health coverage for employees and an increase in the state's minimum wage. Art Pulaski, head of the California Labor Federation, said, "This Monday, the restaurant association will hold a 'Salute to the Governor' for his help in keeping California wages as low as possible- We'll be there to give him a salute of our own". This practice has extended to the Governor's international activities including his upcoming trip to China. The San Francisco Chronicle has reported that High-tech leaders who may accompany Governor Schwarzenegger on his planned November visit to China are being encouraged to avoid paying directly for the trip and instead make hefty donations to a nonprofit committee supporting the governor because the "contributions are not required to be reported," according to an e-mail obtained by The Chronicle. The e-mail soliciting support for Schwarzenegger's Nov. 14-19 trip to China was sent by TechNet, a prominent Silicon Valley advocacy group. The e-mail notes that the governor's trip is being organized with the help of the California State Protocol Foundation, a charitable group to which "contributions are not required to be reported". The California State Protocol Foundation, which has close ties to the California Chamber of Commerce, raised more than $1 million last year. The nonprofit group has helped the governor pay for a variety of events, including his four-day trip to Japan last November. Federal tax documents from 2003 show the foundation's officers include Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce; William Hauck, a Schwarzenegger appointee to the California Review Commission; and Cassandra Pye, who until recently was Schwarzenegger's deputy chief of staff. Through these groups, big money donors can give unlimited amounts to Schwarzenegger's causes without any requirement for public disclosure. The legislation for the initiative, with bipartisan co-authors, was backed by an broad coalition that included business, environmentalists and some labor unions. The Senate approved the bill in June on a 30-5 vote with support from Democrats and Republicans. Unfortunately, the bill seems to have failed in the final hours of the Legislative session when a Democratic-controlled committee in the Assembly added amendments sought by the electrical workers union requiring prevailing union wages on commercial installations and giving much of the work to electrical union members. Alternative energy projects are very sensitive to their "payback" timeframe and this decision may have made the projects economically untenable. "We had the perfect storm for getting this passed," Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Los Angeles, co-author of SB 1, said at a news conference. "Now, at the end of the session, we seem to be moving toward the perfect storm to kill it."The Republican co-author, Sen. John Campbell of Irvine, took his name off the bill last month, saying the costs added by the union provisions would erase much of the subsidy. Governor Schwarzenegger now plans to ask the state Public Utilities Commission to create the new program. The powerful commission that regulates electricity rates was asked to begin preparations last fall and may be able to launch the new program as soon as November, said Richard Costigan, the governor's lobbyist. "We can go to the PUC and implement the policy of SB 1, and that is where we will be going", Costigan said as administration officials briefed reporters on the status of key legislation. Although there had been little or no public discussion that Schwarzenegger would turn to the PUC if legislation failed, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine said administration officials had mentioned the possibility earlier. "My question is, if you thought you could do this through the PUC, why did you spend two years trying to run legislation?" Levine said he doubts that all of Schwarzenegger's plan can be accomplished through the PUC. One of the governor's aides said legislation may be required for some parts of the program, such as special meters that measure energy used and sold to the grid by solar generators. Administration staff members, however, told reporters that the governor met with PUC President Michael Peevey and that he is "pretty comfortable" that the regulatory commission can implement the governor's basic plan. NAFTA Upholds California Gasoline Additive Ban. A North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) tribunal upheld the state of California's ban on a potentially carcinogenic gasoline additive, unanimously dismissing a Canadian methanol producer's USD 970 million lawsuit against the US. It also ordered the company to pay $4 million in legal fees. In the lawsuit, Vancouver-based Methanex Corporation asserted that California's ban on "methyl tertiary butyl ether" (MTBE) -a gasoline additive that reduces greenhouse gas emissions in vehicles - violated its rights under NAFTA's Chapter 11, which sets out rules for the treatment of foreign investors. California established the ban in 1999 after traces of the chemical were found in local water supplies. Then-California Governor Gray Davis justified it on the grounds that MTBE had been linked to cancer, and that it posed threats to both human health and the environment. Methanex, which produces a major component of MTBE, charged that the compound's carcinogenic links were not scientifically grounded and that the ban was instead influenced by political contributions from US-based manufacturers of ethanol - an MTBE substitute now widely used in California The case drew attention because some perceived it as a company's attempt to influence a state's ability to effectively enforce its own health and environmental regulations. International Hotel: Filipino Center Rebuilt. The International Hotel in San Francisco, located between the Financial district and Chinatown, is now a new, 17-story high-rise with stunning views of San Francisco. The original International Hotel was razed in 1977 after a huge fight over affordable housing that galvanized activists throughout the community. The effort to rebuild the hotel brought together the old activists and a new generation of venture capitalists and the Filipino community. "This is the missing ingredient of who and what we are" said Emil de Guzman, president of the Manilatown Heritage Foundation in an interview with Mercury News. He had volunteered at the old I-Hotel, as it was known, in 1969, "There's nowhere where you can really find it. Manilatowns don't really exist today". On the night of Aug. 4, 1977, a group of protestors resisted police on horseback under the glare of TV cameras but were unable to save the hotel's aged Filipino and Chinese tenants from eviction. Through all those years, the activists, tenants and their city-appointed task force kept on trying to build the project. New immigrants came, some from old-line Filipino families who would go on to make their fortunes in California, Kept the dream of rebuilding the hotel alive until the project was nurtured by a whole community. A mature community. "You have activists who really don't care about corporate life, and then you have the corporate people who pitched in" said Eliza Duerme, a volunteer and friend of the project's major backers, Maria and Dado Banatao. "It's fascinating that they did meet". The half-million challenge grant pledged by the Banataos has spurred fundraising momentum. The Smithsonian Institution is now considering the new center as an exhibit site for its 2006 commemoration of the centennial of Filipino immigration. Nation-wide Counterfeit Operation with Shut Down. The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security announced that 87 individuals have been indicted and 59 people have been arrested on charges related to international conspiracies to launder money and smuggle counterfeit U.S. currency, weapons, drugs and cigarettes into the United States. The source country of the counterfeit goods was not named. The California Portion of this investigation called, "Operation Smoking Dragon" was connected to the first by similar subjects and resulted in four indictments by a federal grand jury in the Central District of California naming 30 defendants. The indictments allege that several individuals in California were importing counterfeit products, including cigarettes from a foreign country, through the Los Angeles and Long Beach waterfronts. An FBI undercover operation arranged the shipment of these counterfeit goods into California for the purpose of identifying the entire criminal enterprise. FBI undercover agents posed as underworld criminals who could move these counterfeit products into the United States and Canada. The defendants, believing they were dealing with other criminals, paid for some of the illegal shipments with counterfeit cigarettes. To date, Operation Smoking Dragon has resulted in the seizure of nearly $1.2 million in counterfeit currency. The investigation reveals that the defendants allegedly smuggled cartons of counterfeit cigarettes worth $40 million, 9,100 ecstasy pills, four kilograms of methamphetamine and several hundred thousand dollars worth of counterfeit goods - including Viagra and other pharmaceuticals - were smuggled into the United States. U.S. Attorney Debra Wong Yang said, "Operation Smoking Dragon uncovered an extremely sophisticated smuggling operation that included the production of counterfeit goods and their distribution across the country. The top-to-bottom nature of the organization has resulted in a racketeering indictment that has crippled an enterprise responsible for flooding the United States with bogus consumer products, dangerous drugs and fake government-issued documents." "The culmination of this operation is a prime example of successful law enforcement partnering among local, state, federal and international agencies," said FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole. "Asian criminal enterprises pose a unique and complex law enforcement threat due to the fluid nature of their enterprises. It is essential that we continue to work together with our law enforcement partners to thwart the threat from these international organizations." "This was a one-stop-shopping criminal organization that had the will and the means to smuggle virtually every form of contraband imaginable. For those reasons alone, the organization posed a serious homeland security threat that we are happy to close down today. This case demonstrates what can be achieved when law enforcement works together to combat such threats," said John P. Clark, Deputy Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Department of Homeland Security. Yahoo helps Convict Chinese Pro-Democracy Journalist. Yahoo has been accused of using private information it gathers from its users to help the Chinese government convict a pro democracy Journalist A French group called "Reporters Without Borders" has accused the Internet giant of helping Chinese state security officials catch and prosecute a journalist who "leaked state secrets," Beijing's shorthand for criticizing the government. . Yahoo signed China's "Public Pledge on Self-discipline for the Chinese Internet Industry," a voluntary agreement to monitor and restrict information deemed "harmful" by Beijing. According to the media watchdog group, Yahoo willingly handed over information that enabled officials to link the IP address of the journalist's computer to a state secret he'd forwarded to foreign media via e-mail. In this case, the "state secret" was a message warning Chinese journalists of the dangers of social destabilization and risks resulting from the return of certain dissidents on the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. "We already knew that Yahoo collaborates enthusiastically with the Chinese regime in questions of censorship, and now we know it is a Chinese police informant as well," Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. "Yahoo obviously complied with requests from the Chinese authorities to furnish information regarding an IP address that linked Shi Tao to materials posted online, and the company will yet again simply state that they just conform to the laws of the countries in which they operate," the organization said. "But does the fact that this corporation operates under Chinese law free it from all ethical considerations? How far will it go to please Beijing? ... It is one thing to turn a blind eye to the Chinese government's abuses and it is quite another thing to collaborate". ICANN puts Adult "XXX" Domain names on hold. In June, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) - a California non-profit, announced that it had approved a proposal for the creation of a .xxx top-level domain specifically for adult material. The ICM Registry (icmregistry.com) was to manage the technical side of the domain, while a non-profit group called the International Foundation for Online Responsibility was to develop its policy. Under political pressure, however, the chairman of ICANN Government Advisory Committee joined the call for delay last week given many countries' concerns. The non-profit ICM Registry has agreed to delay implementing the sex-content ".xxx" domain name amid growing concern by U.S. and other government officials. An official with the administration of U.S. President George Bush asked that the sexual domain be put on hold until it can be studied further. Toronto-based ICM Registry proposed the domain five years ago to move sexually explicit Web sites and make it easier for people to avoid them. Opposition has grown, however, since ICANN gave the ".xxx" domain extension preliminary approval. ICM Registry agreed to a one-month implementation delay to address concerns about increasing sexual content. ICM Registry says more than 10 percent of online traffic and 25 percent of global searches are for adult content. Santa Cruz, Huntington Beach vie for "Surf City USA" Moniker. The California Senate Rules Committee declared that the Orange County town of Huntington Beach cannot claim exclusive rights to the name "Surf City USA". According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, the City of Santa Cruz asked for the action after Huntington Beach applied for a trademark and exclusive rights to the name. For years, the two towns have both used the name and there has been an informal truce that both cities have the right to use the name. Considering the truce to be broken, the Senate committee to passed a resolution declaring that Santa Cruz is the true Surf City USA but that any town can use the name if it wants to. Sen. Joe Simitian, a Democrat who represents Santa Cruz, said he hopes the nonbinding resolution will help Santa Cruz's efforts to thwart Huntington Beach's patent applications. "There was an informal truce reached that both cities could use the name, " he said, referring to the last time the issue came before the Legislature in 1992. "But that was ripped asunder when the (Huntington Beach) Conference and Visitors Bureau asked to patent nine separate trademarks." Doug Traub, president and CEO of the Huntington Beach bureau had unveiled a new "Surf City USA'' logo on its Web site along with a three-paragraph warning to other, wannabe Surf City USAs that the name belongs to Huntington Beach alone and that a "licensing agreement is required for commercial use of this name.'' The bureau also vowed to "pursue trademark infringements'' and used phrases like "all rights reserved.'' Sen. John Campbell, a Republican who represents Huntington Beach, said the Senate should not get involved. "I don't understand how anything in California can be Surf City, USA. Surf City, California, we could do," he said. Campbell pointed out that neither Santa Cruz nor Huntington Beach qualifies to be Surf City, under the terms of the classic Jan and Dean song, as neither place has "two girls for every boy." "I've done some research,'' Campbell said. "Neither city has two girls for every boy, so neither should be Surf City". "Hotel California" Favorite Song in India. As a promotion, Sony Ericsson is compiling ‘The Walkman phones 100’ - a soundtrack of the world’s favorite songs of all time and has asked people across the world about their favourite music: the tracks that truly epitomise their own personal soundtrack to their life. The company claims this is the first ever poll of the worlds top 100 songs. In a total of close to ninety thousand votes polled globally so far, the poll found that “Smells like teen spirit” by the grunge band Nirvana is the current favorite, but in a suprising result the No. 1 song in India is the song “Hotel California” by the Eagles. The final results of ‘The Walkman phones 100’ global vote will be released worldwide on the September 28th, 2005. | |
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A Man of Few Words Rob, I love reading your report. Jose Duenas President Bay Area World Trade Center Oakland, California
A Woman of Few Words. Thank you, Rob. I love getting these. Cecilia Cazares Bi-National Affairs Coordinator Sempra Energy San Diego, California
Doesn't Think Governor's Japan Trip was all that Successful The Governor's trip to Japan I do not believe was successful. Is success measured by deals done? There is no one who understands business with Japan based on looking at the (Jobs and Economic Development) Commission. (Acting Executive Director Mark) Mosher knows me and told me that no deals with Japan were done so they are now focusing on China. Mosher formerly worked for the Committee on Jobs in San Francisco a PAC supported by SF business power. I was a Committee member of the Committee on Jobs. The press release does not seems to have anything to do with the trip to Japan. Let me know if you want info on Japan. I have been directly involved in over $ 400 Million of transactions between California and Japan. San Francisco, California
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Filmmakers fleeing California, Incentives Planned. California loses millions of dollars in tax revenue when filmmakers leave the state, according to a study that bolsters the case for a tax credit favored by Governor Schwarzenegger. In recent years, film and TV shows have increasingly headed from California to other states and Canada where tax incentives make production less expensive than in Hollywood. With a former movie star in the governor's office, a new California bill offering tax breaks and sponsored by Democratic State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez is seen as having a chance to succeed. Twice before, California legislators have failed to pass tax incentives. Opponents say it would line the pockets of already wealthy Hollywood producers at a time when California faces a budget crunch, and they question whether the state truly is hurt by "runaway production". The new report released by the California Film Commission, a state-sponsored group that promotes in-state filmmaking, is the first to quantify lost tax revenues. Previously, incentive backers have stressed that the state loses jobs when film and TV production goes elsewhere. The study showed that a film costing $70 million adds at least $10.6 million in tax revenues to state coffers. A $17 million film brings at least $1.8 million in product sales tax and payroll income tax. A one-hour TV drama budgeted at $2.2 million would generate $260,000 in tax revenue to the state, according to the report. "We wanted to show there are more than just jobs being lost -- state and local tax revenues are being lost, too," said Jack Kuyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., which conducted the research. The bill sponsored by Nunez would offer a tax credit of 12 percent on wages and other production costs up to $3 million per film or TV show. San Francisco planning City-wide Wi-Fi System. Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco announced that he wants to make free or affordable high-speed wireless available to everyone in San Francisco and is seeking design ideas and comments for a citywide Wi-Fi network. The mayor had promised this in his state-of-the-city address and has now stepped up the feasibility phase of the project. The entrance of the city into this technology will likely challenge the existing monopolies but may foster the competition necessary to provide universal high- speed, low-cost access. Today, cable and DSL providers control almost 98 percent of the residential and small-business broadband market in the United States. The mayor has put San Francisco on a two-option fast- track to a new network. The first option - the public-private partnership model - is for the city to work with nonprofits and/or private companies to build and operate a system on behalf of all San Franciscans. The second option - the public model - is to have the city build and operate its own system. The 45-day request-for-information-and-comment process has been designed to leave room for flexibility and creativity and has requested a system that is affordable, universal, easily accessible, open and flexible. University of California Merced officially Opens. Nearly two decades after it was approved by University of California regents, UC's 10th campus has officially opened near the Central California city of Merced. About 4,000 dignitaries, community members, parents and students gathered to celebrate the opening with a formal convocation, UC Merced Chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey acknowledged the many delays and problems that delayed development of the campus. "There were lots of times people said this day would never come," Tomlinson-Keasey said as the UC Merced students seated before her responded with sustained cheers and applause. "But it has, and we're just very glad it's here. Many of the political and university leaders who worked to establish the campus and ensure its funding took part in the ceremony, including former Governors Gray Davis and George Deukmejian. Governor Schwarzenegger did not attend but he had visited during the prior week for a brief tour and meeting with campus leaders. Set in rolling grasslands about five miles north of this farming community, UC Merced is the first major American research university to be built this century and the first UC campus to open in 40 years. It is also the first UC campus in the San Joaquin Valley, and university officials hope it will help boost college attendance rates in the area, which have traditionally lagged behind the rest of the state. San Francisco Orders 56 Hybrid Electric Buses. The San Francisco Municipal Railway has ordered 56 hybrid diesel electric buses from the DaimlerChrysler's transit bus brand Orion, with an option for 56 more units. The Orion VII diesel-electric 40-foot buses, similar to a large and growing fleet of Orion hybrid buses in service in New York City, promise significant emissions reductions and fuel savings compared to standard diesel buses, and also outperform conventionally powered vehicles. Mississauga, Ontario-based Orion Bus Industries, along with partner BAE Systems, producer of the HybriDrive(R) series hybrid propulsion system, will deliver the Orion VII model buses in 2006. These buses, the first production hybrid diesel-electric units ordered by a California transit system, will be certified to standards for diesel electric hybrid buses recently adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The order also is the fourth largest ever for hybrid buses. MTA New York City Transit, which is assembling the world's largest hybrid fleet, with 325 units, also uses the Orion VII model. This spring, the Toronto Transit Commission placed an order for 150 buses of the same configuration. Stem Cell Initiative won't boost State Revenues. The state's $3 billion stem-cell research institute could help companies find new cures for a range of health problems, but it won't help California's tax revenues the way its backers had promised, a new study has concluded. Many claims supporting last year's passage of Proposition 71, which launched the research effort, "are based on unrealistic assumptions about the potential economic impact", according to the study unveiled Tuesday by the California Council on Science and Technology. "Some statements about these returns verge on hyperbole". The report by the non-profit advisory group, which was created by the Legislature, said the stem-cell effort would help the state's economy by creating jobs, luring businesses to California, generating tax revenue from new stem-cell products and improving public health; but insisting on a share of the profit from companies that get the state's stem-cell grants would likely backfire, by discouraging businesses from participating, the report copncluded. Proponents of Proposition 71 had claimed before the measure was voted on in November that it would bring a sizable economic benefit to the state. An economic analysis they produced claimed the state's royalty revenue from products developed through Proposition 71 would total $537 million to $1.1 billion. The California Council on Science and Technology report, however, said that "income on royalties from licenses is not guaranteed and is often modest". It also warned that it could take 10 to 20 years before stem-cell research financed by the institute produced any products. The report also noted that if the state demands royalties on those products, it could jeopardize the tax-exempt status of the bonds sold to finance the program. The state's bond counsel and legislative counsel also have issued warnings about that. They concluded earlier this year that demanding royalties might force the state to issue taxable bonds, which could saddle the research program with $900 million in unanticipated expenses. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) just recently approved its 16 first grants totalling $38.9 million, to establish training in the scientific and social issues surrounding the study and use of stem cells. At the moment, however, the actual dispersal of funds will have to wait. It has been delayed because several groups have sued in state court to block California from issuing bonds. Christian Schools Sue U.C. for not Certifying Creationist Teachings. A coalition representing more than 800 religious schools statewide is suing the University of California, claiming admissions officials discriminate against high schools teaching creationism and other conservative Christian beliefs. The Association of Christian Schools International filed the federal lawsuit in Los Angeles. The suit alleges that U.C. admissions officials will not certify science courses at high school using textbooks critical of Darwin's theory of evolution. The lawsuit cites a decision by U.C. officials to reject courses taught at the Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murrieta. The suit claims the courses, which are taught using textbooks printed by Christian publishers Bob Jones University Press and A Beka Books, were rejected on purely religious grounds. U.C. spokeswoman Ravi Poorsina said the university has a right to set course requirements. "These requirements were established after careful study by faculty and staff to ensure that students who come here are fully prepared with broad knowledge and the critical thinking skills necessary to succeed," Poorsina said. Pomona Library gets more non-English books. The Pomona Public Library has added 1,800 book titles to its foreign language section with the help of a grant from the state of California, the city announced Aug. 31. The $25,000 Global Language Materials Grant has permitted the library to add new titles for both adults and young adults to its Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese language collections. Materials cover a wide range of topics including fiction, biographies, health, cooking, English as a second language, citizenship, technology and business. Among the materials is an encyclopedia in Spanish and children's books that include popular fiction, animal and dinosaur titles and materials to help in completing homework assignments. Giant Waterfall Discovered in California Park. A nearly 400-foot waterfall was recently discovered- or rediscovered in a remote corner of the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, 43,000 acres of wilderness in northern California. Until recently, very few people had seen the roaring water that tumbles three tiers before pouring neatly into Crystal Creek. "That such a spectacle should evade even park officials for nearly 40 years is remarkable", said park superintendent Jim Milestone. "It wasn't on a map, no one on the trail crew knew about it. People who been here 27 years had never seen it", he said. A couple years ago, Russ Weatherbee- a wildlife biologist was cleaning out a cabinet of old maps when he stumbled across one from the 1960s marked with a note reading "Whiskeytown falls" near Crystal Creek. "I just decided to go looking for it. But I went in and hiked up and never found anything," Weatherbee said. The map had been more than a mile off. In the spring of 2003, he was looking at global imaging system maps on his computer when he saw a stretch in the creek that dropped in altitude quickly with a sliver of white leading through it. "I thought, 'That looks like white water to me,'" he said. Milestone is leading an effort to clear a trail to the newly named Whiskeytown Falls. It is expected to be finished next summer.
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Google Plans to raise another $4 Billion Fuels Speculation. Google has begun selling an additional 14 million shares of stock, adding $4 billion to its already huge current cash reserves of $3 billion. They have not revealed their plans for this money, but speculation is that they plan to launch an online banking/payment system similar to Paypal, or possibly a major move into the wireless arena. The company also may be planning more products that directly compete with Microsoft- they already have a desktop search application and may develop or buy a browser to compete with Explorer, and they may be developing software to compete with Microsoft office and possibly even an operating system that can be downloaded from the Internet that would directly compete with the Microsoft core business. There are also rumors that the company is considering buying the Chinese search engine Baido- but nobody really knows- the company is notoriously tight lipped about its plans. The company has been expanding aggressively recently, and has already added free e-mail, mapping, news aggregation and digital-photo management to its offerings. It has bought companies that transmit the Internet over power lines and is said to be strongly interested in the mobile phone market. Just recently, Google launched "Google Talk", an instant messaging and Voice over IP service that will be the first real competition for Skype- a peer-to-peer Internet phone service that has become immensely popular. Google even recently announced that it is entering print advertising.. The New York Times ran an article entitled, "Relax Bill Gates, it's Google's turn as the Villain" that observed how the company's growing market power is causing resentment in Silicon Valley. "Google is doing more damage to innovation in the Valley right now than Microsoft ever did," LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman told the Times. "It's largely that they're hiring up so many talented people, and the fact they're working on so many different things. It's harder for start-ups to do interesting stuff right now." Brian Lent, the president of Medio Systems, a start-up in Seattle working on mobile-phone-based search. "Google is the new evil empire, because they're in such a powerful position in terms of control. They have potential monopolistic control over access to information. I like and respect the Google guys, but let's just say that their ultimate aim seems to me to be, 'One Google under Google, for which it stands.' " Max Levchin, a founder of PayPal said that he has definitely been picking up on the resentment. "They're a big company now, doing things people didn't expect them to do." The article also quoted a Mr. Kraus, the head of a Silicon Valley blogging technology start-up. "In the 1990's", he said, "I.B.M. was widely perceived in Silicon Valley as a "gentle giant" that was easy to partner with while Microsoft was perceived as an "extraordinarily fearsome, competitive company wanting to be in as many businesses as possible and with the engineering talent capable of implementing effectively anything". Now, in the view of Mr. Kraus, "Microsoft is becoming I.B.M. and Google is becoming Microsoft." So driven has Google been in its pursuit of new markets that some in Silicon Valley are using an epithet to describe Google that they once reserved for Microsoft: "The Borg," a reference to an army of creatures in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" that took over civilization after civilization with machinelike precision. The Borg's surrender demand was always: "resistance is futile, you will be assimilated". EBay is Buying Internet Phone Company Skype. EBay of San Jose is has has agreed to acquire Skype Technologies, the Internet telephone company that has been the object of much merger speculation of late, for $2.3 billion plus $1.5 billion in performance incentives is Skype hits sales targets. The acquisition of Skype could put eBay at the forefront of one of the most-watched online movements of recent times, and one that the giant online marketplace has so far not been a major part of. It would also follow moves by Microsoft and Google, which eBay increasingly finds itself in competition with on new technologies, to get into the Internet phone business. Skype allows users who download its software and register for its service to talk to one another for free over the Internet. For a company that is a little over two years old, it has already amassed a huge global following - the company says its telephony software has been downloaded 162 million times and it has 53 million registered users, with as many as three million using its service at any given time. An acquisition of Skype would be eBay's biggest purchase since it bought the Internet Auction Company of South Korea in 2004 for $4.3 billion. EBay has been aggressively acquiring companies, many of them overseas, in recent years as it has been reaching beyond its core business of being the definitive online auction service. Skype, based in Luxembourg, was founded by Swedish Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, who also founded the controversial Kazaa file-trading service that has drawn fire from the recording and motion picture industry. Skype's rise from a small Internet service to a phenomenon has alarmed the telecommunications industry, whose officials at times try to dismiss it as a niche online fad that could never replace trusty phones and at other times cite as a revolutionary force transforming the industry. HP plans $4 billion Stock Buyback. Hewlett-Packard's Board of Directors has authorized an additional $4 billion in stock buybacks to offset dilution of shares issued to employees, and as a means of returning cash to shareholders, the Palo Alto based company announced last week. In the three fiscal quarters ended July 31, the computer maker repurchased $2.1 billion in stock, and about $800 million of repurchase authorization remains under the $3 billion repurchase program approved in September 2004. The purpose of the Buyback is to return money to shareholder by boosting earnings per share. As the number of shares outstanding are reduced, net income is spread over fewer shares. Earlier this month HP said it was repatriating $14.5 billion in foreign earnings,as operating profits rose strongly in the personal computer unit, and the business-computer unit returned profit too from a year-ago loss. Shares of HP rose slightly on the news to close at $26.90 on the New York Stock Exchange. So far this year, HP shares have climbed 27 percent. HP has also recently announced that it will be buying San Diego based Peregring Systems- an IT asset and service management firm, for $425 million. Port of LA Traffic Down. While business at major ports in North America is booming with increases of 12% to more than 35% as Asian trade is producing record cargo traffic; the traffic at the Port of Los Angeles has actually dropped by about 2% this year. The LA Times reported the this is because of a major image problem created partly by last year's record congestion, which also affected the Long Beach port, and the 2002 labor dispute that shut down West Coast harbors for 11 days. In addition, the Los Angeles port faces a litany of other problems, the report said. These include internal disarray, unhappy neighbors and delays in dredging and wharf construction projects to accommodate giant containerships that currently go to Long Beach, where cargo volume is nearly 16% ahead of last year's record pace. . Bruce E. Seaton, who became the Los Angeles port's acting executive director last year after previous director Larry Keller was forced out, acknowledged the rough waters. "We are obviously trying to convince customers to come back," Seaton said. "Customers are looking for reliability, and they don't want to see another meltdown." Much is at stake, the report said. The Southern California port complex, the nation's largest, is an economic growth machine that generates billions of dollars in lease and tax revenue each year and directly or indirectly supports 407,000 jobs, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. The local ports are a rare source of high-paying blue-collar work, with the average wage on the docks and in the logistics and distribution industry topping $40,000 a year. A crane operator can earn more than $100,000 annually. In 2004, an unexpected flood of goods — mostly from China — caught the ports unprepared. There weren't enough dockworkers to load and unload ships, which piled up more than 90 deep and were forced to wait as long as a week to disgorge their containers. "it looked like the invasion of Normandy" one observer said. Cargo terminals and railroads also were overwhelmed. Ships were diverted to other ports, which were happy to get the business. The local ports responded by hiring thousands of workers, and railroads added new equipment. And the ports' terminals, which are run independently, recently began operating longer hours. "The cargo is on ships, and they can go anywhere," Seaton said. "What I am hearing on the street is that [shipping lines] are looking for diversification" — that is, sending goods to a variety of seaports instead of concentrating business in Southern California. Novartis Bids $4.5 Billion for Rest of Chiron. The consolidation of the drug industry continued as Swiss drug maker Novartis bid $4.5 billion for the shares of Chiron Corp. that it doesn't already own. Novartis offered $40 a share for 58% of Emeryville, Calif.-based Chiron, which is working to relaunch its U.S. flu vaccine business after contamination at their plant in England caused an nation-wide shortage of flu vaccine. Investors drove Chiron's shares up nearly 18% to $42.93, signaling that Novartis might have to sweeten its bid. Chiron said its board would evaluate the offer. Novartis rapidly is becoming one of the most acquisitive companies in the sector. This year, the company bolstered its position in generic drugs by purchasing Hexal of Germany and its U.S. affiliate, Eon Labs Inc. Novartis, whose leading product is the heart drug Diovan, closed its acquisition of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s over-the-counter drug business this week. Novartis, formed by the 1996 combination of Swiss drug companies Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, said it wanted Chiron to diversify into the global vaccine business. Besides flu vaccine, Chiron produces shots for childhood diseases, meningitis, rabies and other diseases. Novartis said the acquisition would also benefit Chiron, whose flu vaccine problems last year triggered investigations by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bacterial contamination at Chiron's plant in Liverpool, England, forced the company to scrap its entire production slated for the U.S., prompting authorities to ration shots. The factory recently passed a Food and Drug Administration inspection, clearing the way for it to reenter the U.S. market this year. "We believe Chiron, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Novartis, would be better positioned to deal with the legal, regulatory and business issues that it is facing," Novartis Chairman and Chief Executive Daniel Vasella said in a letter to Chiron. Novartis spokesman John Gilardi said the offer came after Chiron's board asked the Swiss company about its plans for its investment in Chiron. The question prompted Novartis to conduct a close examination of Chiron's books. Founded in 1981, Chiron ranks as one of the nation's oldest biotechnology companies. Known as a research powerhouse — it discovered the gene for hepatitis C — Chiron has struggled with little success to turn its discoveries into strong-selling drugs. But analysts said Chiron had some cancer drugs in the early stages of development that could be attractive to Novartis. Chiron had sales of $1.7 billion last year. It has 5,300 employees. The jewel of Chiron's operations is its blood-testing business. Revenue could swell to $500 million by 2009 from $280 million last year with the introduction of three blood-testing products. Geoffrey Porges, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said the blood-testing unit could be worth $3 billion to $4 billion — almost equal to Novartis' bid for all of Chiron. Wal-Mart Sued in California by Foreign Workers. Foreign employees oif Wal-Mart sued the giant retailer in California Superior Court in Los Angeles. They maintain that Wal-Mart failed to meet its contractual duty to ensure that its suppliers pay basic wages due; forced them to work excessive hours seven days a week with no time off for holidays; obstructed their attempts to form a union; and, made false and misleading statements to the American public about the company's labor and human rights practices. The workers are represented by Terry Collingsworth, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based International Labor Rights Fund, and Los Angeles area co-counsels Dan Stormer of Hadsell and Stormer, and Paul Hoffman of Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman. This legal team recently represented Burmese plaintiffs who sued Los Angeles-based Unocal corporation for using forced labor during the construction of a natural gas pipeline in Burma. The suit was settled earlier this year when the Burmese plaintiffs accepted a cash offer from the company that Business Week estimated to be in the vicinity of $30 million. Wal-Mart has consumer outlets throughout the United States, and sells light manufactured goods that are manufactured in thousands of factories around the world. Plaintiffs are class representatives for workers employed in Wal-Mart's supplier factories, including factories located in Swaziland, Nicaragua, mainland China, Indonesia and Bangladesh who were denied their basic minimum wage, forced to work overtime, and in certain cases denied the right to organize. For these workers, this lawsuit represents one of the few viable ways in which these violations can be addressed, especially given the lack of enforceable mechanisms in their home countries, according to their Attorneys. The Law firm has also included another class of Plaintiffs who are employees of California businesses which have been harmed by by what they say are Wal-Mart's unfair labor practices, including Wal-Mart's false representations regarding compliance with its code of conduct, and which as a result have lost business and/or a competitive financial advantage. Within this class are also trade unions members who were forced to make wage and benefit concessions- including health benefits- to allow their employers to try to compete with Wal-Mart. This class of plaintiffs will bring their claim under California's Unfair Business Practices act. San Diego man gets 17 Years for Forex Fraud. The former head of a foreign currency trading operation has been sentenced to serve 17 and a-half years in federal prison. William McCray, 48, of Carlsbad was also ordered to pay more than $11 million in restitution. A jury convicted McCray in 2003 of fraud, perjury and money laundering for leading two La Jolla based institutions -- International Forex of California and Earthwise International. Prosecutors say the two firms obtained more than $30 million from by promising extremely high returns on investment in current accounts. The scheme ended up costing investors more than $11 million. McCray's prison term is to run concurrently with his June sentence of 10 years in prison for a similar fraudulent foreign currency operations via an entity known as Fundamental Trading Analysis. Woodchuck Skateboards Opens California Office. Woodchuck Laminates, a wholesale skateboard hard goods company headquartered in Canada announced that it is opening a new office in Oceanside to better meet the needs of the USA market along with the needs of its international clients. "The opening of Woodchuck's new Oceanside office is an important step towards growing our business in the USA and offering a truly global manufacturing capacity" said Max Dufour, the company founder. He continued by saying that this made Woodchuck "able to custom OEM goods in Canada, the USA, Europe * and Australia * in a quick and effective manner without paying a fortune in shipping and duties". The new office will offer skateboard products from Woodchuck Manufacturing, Premium skateboards * and Avera skateboards, and will be managed by Dufour.
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Andrew House has been named to the new post of global chief marketing officer at Sony Corp. House has been executive vice president of marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America in Foster City, Calif., the unit that sells PlayStations and other portable gaming devices. He will now divide his time between that office and Sony headquarters in Tokyo. Fluent in Japanese, House joined Sony 15 years ago, "almost fresh out of Oxford," working in the corporate communications department in Japan. Five years later he moved to the marketing communications department of Sony Computer Entertainment in Tokyo. By 1996, he had become the vice president of marketing for SCEA, moving to California. First Bank in San Francisco expanded its Northern California trade finance group with the hiring of Nancy Tso as a vice president and manager. Tso, known as Nancy Rolando before her recent marriage, has several years of trade finance experience with San Francisco institutions, including Greater Bay Bancorp and BNP Paribas, which operates Bank of the West. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Taiwan, Tso joins First Bank from Chinatrust Bank, a subsidiary of one of Taiwan's largest commercial banks in the United States. First Bank's Asian banking group will become part of the expanded trade finance operations. "While we want to continue to support the Asian market, we want to expand into other mainstream markets as well," Tso said. "Everything is very global these days, so trade finance is essential." First Bank, one of the nation's largest privately held banks, has more than $8.7 billion in assets and 170 locations in California, Missouri, Illinois and Texas. Timothy M. Stearns, Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies and director of the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at California State University, Fresno, has been elected chair of the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. The Academy of Management, with a membership of more than 16,000, is the professional organization for faculty in the management sciences worldwide. The Entrepreneurship Division, with nearly 2,000 members, is the most comprehensive association for faculty who conduct research and teach entrepreneurship. “As a profession, we have expanded our doctoral training, worked on developing centers that serve both students and communities, and have established significant ties to practitioners who are the core for generating innovation and jobs around the world,” said Stearns. “I look forward to a productive year with opportunities for continual improvement in our profession” . After a long search, Judy Olian, head of the Smeal College of Business Administration at Pennsylvania State University, has been named the next dean of the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Olian, who will be the first woman at the helm of the Anderson School, is scheduled to take over for Bruce Willison on Jan. 1, 2006, UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale announced. The appointment still has to be approved by the University of California Board of Regents. Late last year, Geoffrey Garrett, vice provost and dean of the UCLA International Institute, emerged as the leading candidate before withdrawing from consideration as criticism mounted about the selection process. Garrett had been chairman of a 10-person committee formed in February last year to vet the candidates vying for dean. Carnesale, who shared an interest in international affairs with Garrett, assembled the committee. In response to the criticism, the Garrett-chaired committee was disbanded. Olian comes to UCLA with an extensive business school background. Since 2000, she has been dean and professor at Pennsylvania State’s Smeal College, and from 1995 to 2000, she was senior associate dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. A native of Australia, Olian holds a doctorate in industrial relations from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and an undergraduate degree in psychology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Since 2000, Olian has been dean and professor of management at Smeal, where she led an ambitious fundraising campaign for a $68 million state-of-the-art-facility that opened this summer; spearheaded comprehensive renewals of the undergraduate, M.B.A. and Ph.D. programs; and oversaw program expansion through the launch of the Smeal Trading Room, the eBusiness Research Center, the e-Incubator Lab, the Auctions Market Lab and the Philadelphia-based Executive M.B.A. program.
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Like all good Liberals, we love to throw rocks at Wal-Mart. In this publication, we have compared Wal-Mart to a smart bomb- destroying all small business life within a 20 mile radius of their superstores by selling cheap Chinese goods at below market prices. So we must report here that we were a little chagrined to learn how quickly and effectively Wal-Mart moved to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina- a surprising example of Corporate responsibility. Before the storm, Wal-Mart worked around the clock before Katrina hit land to have the stores fully stocked with full pallet positions of water, flashlights, batteries, and canned goods. Unlike the U.S. Government, Wal-Mart Corporation planned for the worst- their emergency operations center worked to pre-position water, food, generators and fuel in areas expected to be affected by the storm. In stark contrast to President Bush, Wal-Mart chief executive H. Lee Scott Jr. called an immediate emergency meeting of his top managers and told them that he did not want a "measured response" to the hurricane. After the disaster, the company quickly dispatched more than 1500 trucks filled with donated merchandise, water and enough food for 100,000 meals. Incredibly some of these trucks were blocked by FEMA but many more got through providing desperately needed help to the victims the U.S. Government had abandoned. The company has also donated $20 million in cash to help with the relief effort. While many of Wal-Mart's previous charitable activities have seemed like they were undertaken to provide bragging rights for their commercials, I don't this this is the case this time- I think they did this because they cared about these communities. We probably won't turn into Wal-Mart fans- who can forget the California grocery strike of two years ago when just the threat of their Superstores caused these corporations to slash worker's health insurance, Still, in this particular situation, Wal-Mart behaved like an American company, and we have to give credit where credit is due. The bright red State of Texas also stood up to the plate. It is no secret that we are not great fans of that State. As far as we are concerned, they can keep their crony capitalism and their evangelical politicians, as well as their law enforcement culture and their "pioneers" and "rangers" - and that guy in the White House they stuck us with- let's not even go there. Still, when they saw the human suffering in New Orleans their response was immediate and unequivocal- they made it clear they would help any way they could and took in tens of thousands of evacuees. Just this once, Texas, our hats are off to you (sorry though, they are not cowboy hats). It is being called "The Year of the Rat". The shocking news that Yahoo helped convict Chinese Journalist Shi Tao, a pro-Democracy activist, by providing police with information that enabled them to link an email he sent with the IP address of his computer. French media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders was rather blunt and called Yahoo Inc. "a Chinese police informant". The "State secrets" that Mr. Tao allegedly revealed were nothing more than notes about government instructions for the media in the weeks before the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Yahoo said in a statement: "Just like any other global company, Yahoo must ensure that its local country sites must operate within the laws, regulations and customs of the country in which they are based". We're sorry Yahoo- that is lame. Why couldn't they have "accidentally" deleted these records- or why couldn't they have said "the dog ate them" - anything but what they did. So it is with sadness and reluctance that we must give Yahoo this month's Lame Award -the dubious distinction we give for extreme examples of dishonesty, corruption or incompetence in California. Actually this one is a bit worse than just "lame" - Mr. Tao has been given a 10 year prison sentence. There may be more to the story. As we reported here, Yahoo has just plunked down a billion dollars for a minority share in the Chinese Trade Portal Alibaba. The considerable know-how, technology and capital of Yahoo is now at the disposal of a powerful Chinese company whose core competence and technology is in export-driven eCommerce. This move could help China become even more of an economic superpower, but did Yahoo give away the store? Their billion bucks bought them only a 40 percent share of Alibaba, and only a 35 percent voting share- plus Alibaba CEO Jack Ma not only retains complete control of his company but also takes over all of Yahoo's existing China operations. It is said that this deal was made possible because of the trust Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang developed with Mr. Ma in early May during the U.S.-China IT Executive Summit in Pebble Beach- and that is certainly nice, but Corporations are more than their momentary leaders- so this begs the question. Is Yahoo still a California company? In fact are they still an American company? In their betrayal of Shi Tao they certainly haven't exhibited American values. So now we must ask another question of Mr. Yang- and though I'm not the "faith based" type this question was first posed by a rabble rouser who lived 2000 years ago who was also persecuted by a police state: "For what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul". Which brings us tothe Great Wall of China. No, not the one our politicians and bureaucrats routinely go to see on their junkets. I am talking about the Network Access Points (NAP) and backbone architecture that the Chinese government is using monitor and control the Internet. It has been observed that had the servers that hosted Yahoo's email been outside of China they would have been outside of Chinese police jurisdiction and Mr. Tao would be a free man. The Chinese government, however, seems to be going to extreme lengths to make sure its citizens cannot have full access to the Internet and "filtering" - a polite term for censorship, has become widespread in China. Search engines are filtered so that sites that users never even see political material the State deems inappropriate. Chat rooms are monitored and visitors to Cyber cafes are required to log users and the pages they accessed, and particularly the pages theyaccessed that are blocked or prohibited. By the end of June, all bloggers in China had to register with the State. Foreign blogs are generally blocked in China- reports are that "Blogger" and "Typepad" cannot be seen there. It is not just Yahoo. Cisco Systems of California has long been accused by human rights activists of helping the Chinese develop the filtering technology the Chinese government uses for this censorship. Microsoft kowtowed to the Chinese government by helping to censor Chinese blogs by blocking that contain such radical concepts as "freedom" and "democracy" and they have signed the Chinese "Public Pledge on Self-Discipline for the China Internet Industry". Even Google- with one of its founding principals being "Democracy on the web" published a statement admitting that it would not be showing links to material banned by the authorities on computers stationed in China It just came out- and this is breaking news- that Skype foreign connections are being blocked by China Telecom- they are even creating a "blacklist" of Skype users and threatening punitive action against those who circumvent its Skype blocks. State Department human rights officialSusan O'Sullivan said that China is matching its citizens' growing Internet That fact is that China may be developing its own Internet. This summer, China announced its latest build-out—the "Next Carrying Network," or CN2. This massive internal network will be fast, but it will also be built by a single, state-owned company and easy to filter at every step. Its addressing system (known as IPv6) is not used in the United States and may make parts of the Chinese Internet and the rest of the world mutually unreachable. It is clear that they now have the technology to control or severely restrict Internet information and communication from foreign sources. So the next question is, "What if they flipped the switch?". I think the Alibaba takeover of Yahoo China is a big deal. Much bigger that CNOCC trying to pay too much for one of our little pissant oil companies. The Yahoo-Alibaba system could could evolve into a robust national trading platform- an export-driven engine that could help China become even more of an economic powerhouse. Since smaller countries would have to play by their rules they could even move towards a global trading platform that has domination of all major supply chains. Do you think the U.S. Government is ready? Given their Katrina response they are probably not ready for broken shoelaces, which is a concern because I believe the next "war" will be on the Internet. It may not be violent (for all we know China is already manufacturing our cruise missiles) but it could impoverish us. In fact, "war"- in a very real sense, is already on the Internet. Almost all of Al-Qaeda's important operations are now on the Internet. Before the Iraq war, Al-Qaeda was just a small band of religious nutcases. Now it has evolved into "Al Qaedaism" that communicates, recruits and plans operations on the Internet. The Internet is changing, the world is changing, and we are not ready. There are also indications that the Chinese are becoming much more expert and active in cyber spying. A special report in Time Magazine investigated an alleged Chinese spy ring called Titan Rain. The ring was first discovered by Shawn Carpenter- a mid level analyst at Lockheed Martin, who was later given the code name spider man by his handlers in the intelligence community. Working as a volunteer, but with the knowledge of Army intelligence and the FBI, Carpenter traced the spy ring to the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. He found that the attacks emanated from just three Chinese routers that acted as the first connection point from a local network to the Internet. According to the report, "Carpenter had never seen hackers work so quickly, with such a sense of purpose. They would commandeer a hidden section of a hard drive, zip up as many files as possible and immediately transmit the data to way stations in South Korea, Hong Kong or Taiwan before sending them to mainland China. They always made a silent escape, wiping their electronic fingerprints clean and leaving behind an almost undetectable beacon allowing them to re-enter the machine at will". Government analysts who protect the networks at military, nuclear-lab and defense- contractor facilities said that Titan Rain is thought to rank among the most pervasive cyberespionage threats that U.S. computer networks have ever faced. Carpenter estimates there were six to 10 workstations behind each of the three routers, staffed around the clock. The gang stashed its stolen files in zombie servers in South Korea, for example, before sending them back to Guangdong. In one, Carpenter found a stockpile of aerospace documents with hundreds of detailed schematics about propulsion systems, solar paneling and fuel tanks for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the NASA probe launched in August. As a result of his free lance intelligence activities, Carpenter was fired from his job at Sandia National Laboratories and stripped of his security clearance. For a while, the government denied knowledge of his activities and the bureaucrats at the FBI were actually investigating him while they were working with him- and later even threatened to prosecute him. Carpenter has since agreed to stop his counter-espionage activities and his security clearance has been reissued at another employer. China's State Council Information Office, speaking for the government, said the charges about cyberspying and Titan Rain are "totally groundless, irresponsible and unworthy of refute". Let's get back to California. Because of the special election, we have had a "lost year" here in California. Governor Schwarzenegger continues to drop in popularity- as Sacramento Bee Columnist Daniel Weintraub put it: "After less than two years as governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger is no longer seen by most California voters as part of the solution. In their eyes, he is now part of the problem". The LA Times also had a scary political analysis" "Governor boxes himself into a corner with the right". The thesis was that Schwarzenegger has so alienated Democrats with highly partisan attacks that he now is being controlled by his "base" of conservative Republicans: "he did that, primarily, by starting a special election war. He aggressively attacked Democratic interests — teachers, nurses, cops, firefighters — that were more popular than he was, then got pummeled by their predictable counterattacks. He groveled for political bucks from his Republican interests in the corporate world after running for the job as a reformer who didn't need special interest money. He became less of a centrist compromiser and more of a political partisan". The article concluded that "Schwarzenegger has backed himself into a corner where his only moves are to the right". Well isn't that just peachy! America needs another right-wing politician like we need a hole in our heads. I hope its not true. When President Bush was giving a speech in San Diego comparing himself to Franklin Roosevelt while people were dying on their rooftops, the Governor was nowhere to be seen. Still the hope that Democrats would forget the Governor's stumping for candidate Bush may have been wishful thinking. New York Times Columnist Maurine Dowd, who once came to Schwarzenegger's rescue over earlier groping allegations, took a swipe at the Governor in the aftermath of Katrina. "W.'s 2004 convention was staged like "The Magnificent Seven" with the Republicans' swaggering tough guys - from Rudy Giuliani to Arnold Schwarzenegger to John McCain - riding in to save an embattled town. These were the steely-eyed gunslingers we needed to protect us they said, not those sissified girlie-men Democrats". Which brings us back to the "girlie men" comment- actually what the Governor said right after that is much more significant than that insult and has never been adequately explained. "Don't you remember the pessimism of 20 years ago when the critics said that Japan and Germany are overtaking the U.S.? Ridiculous! Now they say that India and China are overtaking us. Now don't you believe it. We may hit a few bumps -- but America always moves ahead. That's what Americans do". All I can say that if this is the philosophy guiding our international economic development, we are in deep trouble. Let's move onto something positive. Here's an idea: the California Olympics. News that Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego/Tijuana are all considering Olympic bids should make this a no-brainer. Who says the games have to be in one city? The IOC President was said to be receptive to the idea of bi-national games involving San Diego and Tijuana- though the challenges for that would be immense and it doesn't stand much of a chance. California as a State, however, already has two bid committees formed and have world class athletic facilities all over the place. We could have the opening ceremony in San Francisco (fair enough- LA has had it twice), and the closing ceremony in Los Angeles (the city of night), with the games spread throughout the State. The California Olympics would produce entertainment and a multi-media extravaganza like the world has never seen. It would end our balkanization and damaging north-south divide. Maybe we could even use it as an excuse to build a high speed bullet train linking our major cities. I even know who would be a great Chairman of the organizing committee- Arnold Schwarzenegger- he'd be a natural! It would be best though if he changed his mind about running for reelection. While we know this would be a sacrifice for the Governor, it would be something that he would be really good at and it would be great for California.
RG
What have you "Heard on the Street?" please let us know atcaltrade@gmail.com. | |
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Development Gateway. This is a site we always wish we had more time to explore. It is a business network for international development professionals that was originally developed by the World Bank. It contains an absolute wealth of information about international development. Check it out at:http://home.developmentgateway.org Development Executive Group. If you are looking for international employment, this is a good place to start. Registration is free as are most of the job listings. Check it out at http://www.developmentex.com International Business Network on Ryze. The International Business Network on Ryze is a forum that we sponsor as part of the California Trade Network. We started this because we were not able to allow free foreign registrations on CALTRADE, and we wanted to provide a free service for our friends in other countries. It has since grown to be a vibrant community in its own right and now has almost 5000 members from all over the world, Check it out athttp://international-network.ryze.com/
Have you found some cool, interesting or useful information or links? Please let us know atcaltrade@gmail.com. | |
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back September 20: Los Angeles, Doing Business with Israel. Hosted by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the Government of Israel Economic Mission. Underscoring the importance of bi-lateral trade between California and Israel by promoting and education the business community on available opportunities for major industries. $20 Luncheon, RSVP by Sept 16 atwww.lachamber.com. September 20: Los Angeles. Doing Business in China- Logistics. 1st PMF Bancorp and Coface North America would like invite you to the City Club China Seminar Series. Meet U.S. Rep. in Shenzhen, China Andrew Pan and East West Logistics' President Sherry Wang, to discuss how to do business in China! Time: 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM September 22: Los Angeles, Breakfast with the British Consul General Bob Peirce. Hosted by British-American Business Council of Los Angeles. Time: 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM, Cost: $30 for BABC members prepaid, $35 non-members and on the day, Location: The Regency Club, Address: 10900 Wilshire Blvd., 17th Floor, Contact: Gillian Campbell September 22: Hawthorne. Women in International Trade- 20th Anniversary. We are delighted to have the following guest speakers joining to honor 20 years of WIT-LA and discuss recent trade trends impacting our members: Mr. CARLOS J. VALDERRAMA - Director of Latin American Operations at Carlsmith Ball LLP. MS. ANA HINOJOSA - Area Port Director of Los Angeles International Airport. MR. KEVIN WEEKS - Director of Port Field Operations for Los Angeles. Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM, Cost: $50 (Steak& Shrimp dinner), Location: Matisse Restaurant. Contact: Annemarie Ruitenbach, Email:wit.la@verizon.net, Phone: (310) 535-0127 September 23: San Francisco, Oktoberfest Networking Reception. The German American Chamber of Commerce and the German American Business Association invite you to an Oktoberfest networking reception. Location: Carroll, Burdick & McDonough LLP, 44 Montgomery, Suite 400, San Francisco. Contact: Nichole Kohake, (415)743-2449 September 24: Los Angeles. Journalism Seminar for Ethnic Media at UCLA. New California Media, NAHJ and the University of California Office of the President invite our ethnic media colleagues in Southern California to a free professional development seminar with separate tracks for broadcast production; editorial (broadcast and print); and business. Editorial workshops will be in English and Spanish. Topics include how to develop a good story, conduct a good interview and improve camera work; how to promote your media to advertisers; legal issues facing journalists; the challenge of covering immigrant rights and homeland security abuses; and generating revenue. Space is limited. Location: Kerkhoff Hall, UCLA Campus. Please RSVP to Carolyn Goosen at cgoosen@pacificnews.org or 415-503-4170. September 28: Los Angeles. Dressing a Galaxy- The Costumes of Star Wars Exhibition and Cocktail Reception. Hosted By: British American Business Council Los Angeles. A collection of 100 costumes, accessories, and props from all six of the Star Wars saga will be on display. Complimentary hors d'oeuvres with wine will be served. Time: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, Cost: $30 for BABC LA members pre-paid; $40 for non-members and on the day, Location: FIDM Museum & Galleries. Contact: Gillian Campbell,gillian@babcla.org, Phone: (310) 312-1962 September 29: Long Beach, Importing to the U.S. Presented by the Center for International Trade Development. This course will provide you with the basic steps involved when importing products to the United States. The presenter will discuss how you can overcome barriers to importing. Tariff classifications, warehousing and basic laws affecting importation are amongst the topics of discussion. Thursday 9/29, 9:00a.m. - 12:00p.m., Fee: $45, Long Beach City College Liberal Arts Campus (LAC)4901 E. Carson Street, Trailer W – 158, Phone- 562-570-3800 October 1: Santa Anita. Goodwood Stakes Day at the Races. Hosted By: British American Business Council. Join us for an exciting and colourful spectacle of thoroughbred racing at the Santa Anita Park. The Frontrunner Restaurant offers unparalleled dining, unsurpassed comfort, and a unique entertainment environment of relaxed elegance. Dress code is in effect. During the day, we will be honouring those who have been recognized by the Queen for their dedication to the British Community here in Los Angeles. Time: 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM, Cost: $55 per person. Location: Santa Anita Park, Contact: Gillian Campbell, Email:info@babcla.org , Phone: (310) 312-1962 October 5: Sherman Oaks. Global Business Networking Forum- October 6: Downey, 6th Annual Asian Small Business Expo. October 7: Los Angeles, 17th annual Southern California Visitor Industry Outlook Conference. Presented by t October 13: Long Beach. Customs and Border Protection/USDA. Sponsored by Los Angeles Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association. PROGRAM AGENDA 1. Avian Influenza- impact on Agriculture Importation 2. Agriculture Exams- What is going on, increased risk? 3. New Regulation Requirements: 3a. New Wood Packing Material Regulations effective 09-16-2005 3b. Bamboo Stakes/Poles-Mandatory Fumigation-import requirement effective 09-01-2005 4. Agriculture Program Overview-Questions and Answers. Time: 5:45 PM to 9:45 PM, Cost: Members $40.00 Non-Members and Walk-ins $50.00, Location: Reef Restaurant, Contact: Annemarie Ruitenbach, Email: lacb.ffa@verizon.net, Phone: (818) 951-2841, Web:www.lacbffa.org October 14: San Francisco, Hong Kong-Guangdong Business Conference. The Hong Kong-Guangdong Business Conference United States 2005, jointly organized by the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the People's Government Of Guangdong Province, is the first of its kind held in the United States. The purpose of the conference is to give the US business community a better understanding of the current business climates of Hong Kong and Guangdong as well as their favorite investment environment. Location: Hilton San Francisco, 333 O'Farrell St. San Francisco, Ca, Website: www.calasia.org November 8: Los Angeles. Project T2: A Technology Transfer Conference. The World's Largest Showcase of Leading-Edge Innovations 50+ Innovations, 25 Universities, 3 Nations Organized by Larta Institute in Partnership with Presenting Sponsor, Kauffman Foundation, and Founding Sponsor, Southern California Edison. During this full day event, featured panelists from Mitsubishi Chemical Company, the National Institutes of Health, DuPont, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, and others will share their views and insights with over 400 attendees. Location: Millennium Biltmore Hotel. For more information: http://www.larta.org --------------- Please send events for listing here to caltrade@gmail.com. if your event is near the beginning of the Month, please try to get us your listing at least 5 weeks in advance. | |
California-based Yahoo! will pay $1 billion in Cash for a minority share in the Chinese trade portal Alibaba. In a deal estimated to be worth $4 billion, the $1 billion cash payment will secure a 40 percent interest and one of four seats on the board of Alibaba. As part of the agreement, Alibaba will completely take over all of Yahoo's China operations, the companies announced at a press conference in Beijing. This will include all of Yahoo's assets in China, including Yahoo China, Yahoo's Chinese instant messenger, the Chinese search engine Yisou.com, 3721 Network Software and its joint venture 1Pai auction web,' said Jack Ma, Alibaba's chief executive. Alibaba's trading site, which lets small- and medium-sized companies exchange and export goods, has more than 15 million subscribers worldwide and is the nation's biggest business-to-business site. In addition to its flagship trade portal Alibaba.com, the company operates online auction site Taobao.com, and an online escrow payment service AliPay. 
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Keepers of the Flame It was beyond appalling. The nation watched as a Category 5 hurricane slowly made its way across the Gulf of Mexico- about to make a direct hit on a major American city, while our leaders stood by disinterested and disengaged. After Katrina made landfall, it quickly became obvious that the situation was even worse than expected, and degrading rapidly. People were trapped in the city as the levy was breached- yet there were no helicopters, no national guard- and in fact no coordinated rescue effort at all for several days. It was a failure of all level of government, but most shocking was the incredible lack of leadership on the part of President Bush and his administration. While New Orleans was flooding, he continued on his vacation as if nothing had happened- he gave a speech in San Diego comparing himself to Franklin Roosevelt, posed for photo ops of himself cutting a birthday cake and playing guitar, and even found time for a leisurely game of golf- all while people were stranded on their roofs dying of dehydration and heat exhaustion. His senior staff behaved much the same way. National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice went shoe shopping in New York- until confrontations with angry citizens forced her to stop. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld caught a Padre's baseball game with multi-millionaire John Moore, and Vice President Cheney- as far as we know, never even bothered to cut short his own vacation in Wyoming. It has been reported that Bush did not really even grasp the situation until fully four days later- he never set up a command and control operation; and never even ordered the Military to commence rescue operations until it was far too late for many of the victims. Some people believe that Bush, by apparently ignoring a desperate SOS, behaved in a manner that could be considered criminal negligence- or at the very least dereliction of duty. Had Bush been in the military chain-of-command, instead of the Commander in Chief, he almost certainly would have been relieved of duty- and probably court marshaled. The Federal Government that he commands also proved to be completely inept. FEMA actually blocked some rescue operations, and Director Michael Brown was unaware of the horrific conditions at the Superdome where people were stranded until being told of their conditions by a reporter. Brown's boss, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was just as clueless: "I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who don't have food and water," he said four days after the storm. As a result of this incompetence, people died- and the world saw the worst of America- an inept government, extreme poverty, violent gangs taking advantage of innocent victims. There is no way to sugar coat this reality: when we needed them most, the Government failed to help our fellow Americans in desperate need, and disgraced and humiliated the rest of us. Some political pundits believe the response to Katrina was the dying gasp of the Reagan revolution. The philosophy that "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem". Since conservatives do not believe in government, the theory goes, they want to do all they can to destroy or diminish it while they are in power. This includes spending astronomical sums of money, so that future generations will be forced to have a much smaller Government- the so called, "starve the beast" approach. More cynical adherents to this theory believe that some conservatives take this a step further, not only do they work to diminish government when they are in power, but since they don't believe in government anyway they "soak it for all it's worth" while they are in control. Bush has certainly given credence to this theory. It is obvious that he filled FEMA with his political hacks and cronies- competence did not even seem to be a consideration in many of his appointments, and the problem may be far more systemic than anyone is willing to admit. It is quite possible- in fact likely- that this same fatal combination of political cronyism and incompetent bureaucrats has infected agencies that regulate business and the economy, defense and the military, health and the environment and almost certainly our intelligence agencies. How did America, and the American government take such a horrible wrong turn? To find the answer to that, I believe we have to go back to a few days after 9/11 - September 20, 2001 to be exact, when President Bush addressed a joint session of Congress and the American people. It was a lovely and inspiring speech, but Bush outlined a purely military and government approach to the problem of global terrorism- the rest of us had no role at all, except "continued participation and confidence in the American economy". This, I believe, was the start of a tragic separation of the American government from the American people. While there is no doubt that most Americans wanted to clean up the Taliban situation, there was also a deep yearning to be a positive force in the world, and we wanted a piece of the action. The later decision to invade Iraq- made almost unilaterally and certainly with nothing even close to an American consensus, took the American government even further down a road that most Americans did not wish to travel- and people seemed to intuitively sense that it was the "wrong direction". If there was one bright spot in the Katrina catastrophe, it is that the American people, on realizing that their government had failed them, responded with immediate action and generosity. They knew that an SOS from fellow Americans must NEVER be ignored- it is your duty as an American- and as a human, to respond with whatever resources you have. We don't need to recount the stories of heroism here- Americans descended on the Gulf Coast with boats, and truckloads of emergency supplies- others offered to open their homes to adapt families, countless others opened their checkbooks- and as is often the case in this kind of situation, the people who had the least to give, gave the most. When our government failed, these were the people who kept the American spirit alive. A terrible wind has blown across our country, and it ripped away the illusion that the Government is on our side, but it did not extinguish the flame of the American spirit. Perhaps someday we will again have a Government that truly represents us- and includes us, but until that day "we the people" must be the keepers of the flame.
RG . If you would like to write an "Op-Ed" piece please let us know at caltrade@gmail.com. |
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The California Trade Network The California Trade Network is a private sector initiative with the goal of providing high quality information and communication services the will help nurture and grow California's international business community. As part of this effort, we have launched the following initiatives and services: California International Business Directory. This is a free "Registry" of firms and professionals in California with international business interests. Now with over 10,000 listings, it is the largest "opt in" directory for international business in California. The service includes a free international profile record and directory listing for any company or professional in this State. Please review the directory and if you find a listing for your company use the Password Request form to gain access to your international business profile. If you are not listed please register at the link below. Communication and Collaboration Portal. We are especially excited about this new "4C" portal- connectivity, communications, collaboration and community. Currently in beta test. it uses a business networking technology with integrated Internet Telephony through Skype and has many other features including photo uploads, private messaging, instant messaging, message boards, guest books and is especially designed for international business professionals in California. We now have a small, but growing community starting to discuss and collaborate on international business issues- please consider joining us. Trade Opportunity Matching. NEW. We are delighted to announce that we now have "Trade Opportunity Matching" fully operational on the California Trade Network "communication and collaboration" portal. Currently, members of the network have a business profile that includes a list of industries and trade countries where they wish to do business. When a trade opportunity is identified that matches one of these countries and industries, it is flagged for the member and an email alert is sent that notifies the member that a potential match has been found. To our knowledge, this is the first time this type of service has been deployed in the context of a business/social networking portal, and we believe it is a very significant development. We intend to continue to identify and deliver high quality international trade opportunities for the benefit of California firms and professionals. California International Business Association. NEW: We are just launching a new non-profit organization for small companies and professionals working in international markets. This association will be separate from the commercial services on the portal and we are looking leaders to help us develop a dynamic new NGO. Please note that organizing for this association is also being transferred to the Communication and Collaboration portal.
We are still 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. |