AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY
Minority Enterprise Development Week Conference
Washington, DC
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Ladies and Gentleman, before we break for our 30th Anniversary Awards luncheon, I would like to introduce you to a cadre of people who are champions of providing working capital, insurance and loans to U.S. firms going global.
Throughout its 75+ year history, Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank of the United States has enabled U.S. companies — large and small — to turn export opportunities into real sales that helps to maintain and create U.S. jobs and contribute to a stronger national economy.
Today, Ex-Im Bank is taking aggressive steps to bring more minority-owned and small businesses into the Ex-Im Bank portfolio with a goal of approving at least $30 billion in small-business transactions over five-year period.
To reach these benchmarks, Ex-Im Bank has introduced new financing and insurance products, such as Global Credit Express and Express Insurance. And most recently, MBDA and the Export-Import Bank of the United States signed a Global Outreach Alliance to:
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increase access to capital for minority-owned firms, and;
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to encourage the participation of minority-owned businesses in international commerce that ultimately will lead to job creation in America.
After all, we all know the unique assets minority-owned firms bring to the table when we talk about going global! Export activity by minority-owned firms spans 41 countries. Minority-owned firms are 2-4 TIMES more likely to export. Minority-owned firms are 6 TIMES more likely to conduct business in another language, and; the growth in the number of minority-owned firms OVER THE PAST DECADE has outpaced the growth of non-minority-owned firms.
That is why both agencies are banding together leverage our capabilities and resources to promote projects that increase the opportunities for MBEs to export U.S. goods and services. For MBDA that means our network of 41 business centers who work with minority business owners on a daily basis and for Ex-Im Bank that means their robust portfolio of financing experts and customized products.
So, allow me to thank Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred Hochberg, the entire Ex-Im Bank Team, ITA Finance Specialist, Yuki Fujiyama and MBDA’s own Devta Ohri and for their work on this effort. Here to say a few words about the Global Outreach Alliance is Ex-Im Board of Director Ms. Patricia Loui.
