IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
March 28, 2008
World Trade Center, LAEDC Trade Mission to India
Expect Results of $70M in Export Sales
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World Trade Center Association, LAEDC and Los Angeles County to Capture $70 Million in
Business Development Opportunity Export Sales in one of the Largest Economies
in the World
LOS ANGELES – Southern California’s economy will soon get
a $70 million economic boost thanks to a delegation of Southern California business and government leaders who recently
returned from a trip promoting trade and strengthening economic ties with
India.
“The
preliminary outcome of this mission was highly successful with participating
companies reporting more than $70 million in projected export sales,” explained
Vance Baugham, president of the WTCA Los Angeles-Long Beach.
“We anticipate an attraction
of a direct airline flight to LAX in 2009, which will have a long-term positive
effect for the economy. We
are also in discussions with a major Indian hotel brand to add a location
in Los Angeles County that could bring up to $100 million in
Indian investment to the region with 500 to 600 new jobs.”
Baugham
was among the 25-member delegation which included representatives from the
cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach, Los Angeles World Airports, and business representatives from major
corporations that included AECOM, Clean Energy, KPMG, Paramount Pictures,
Seyfarth Shaw, KPC Group, Oasis, and Cal State University Long Beach. The delegation was led by LAEDC Chairman Ray
Holdsworth; CEO Bill Allen, LAEDC; WTCA President Vance Baugham and Long Beach
Councilmember Suja Lowenthal.
Baugham
noted that the delegation met with government and industry leaders with emphasis
on India’s infrastructure needs such as air and
sea ports in the cities of New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. A series of business
matchmaking meetings were also conducted throughout India for the business delegates.
New
Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata are modernizing their
air and sea ports and will require companies with expertise in designing,
planning and developing infrastructure.
Officials introduced local and regional engineering, technology and transportation-related
companies doing business with the Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles to their Indian counterparts.
“That
expertise exists in Los Angeles County, which is home to the Port of Long
Beach and neighboring Port of Los Angeles, together making up the largest
port complex in the Americas and fifth largest in the world," said LAEDC
President and CEO Bill Allen.
“Three
in-bound missions are scheduled with scrap metal buyers in April, along with–India’s
Bollywood/Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPAA) delegation and a West Bengal mission is set for September,” said Baugham.
India's economy, the world's 12th largest, is
expected to grow exponentially in the coming decades to meet rising demand
in Europe, Asia and the United States.
About
the WTCA
The
World Trade Center Association Los Angeles – Long Beach, a subsidiary of the Los Angeles County Economic Development
Corporation, supports development of international trade and business opportunities
for Southern California companies as the leading international trade association,
trade service organization and trade resource in Los Angeles County. It promotes the Los Angeles region as a destination for foreign investment.
Visit www.wtca-lalb.org or call
(213) 680-1888 for more information.
About
the LAEDC
The
LAEDC, the region’s premier business leadership organization, is a private,
non-profit organization established in 1981 under section 501(C) (3). Its
mission is to attract, retain, and grow business and jobs for the regions
of Los Angeles County. Since 1996, the LAEDC has helped retain
or attract more than 135,000 jobs, providing $5.6 billion in direct economic
impact from salaries and $95 million in annual tax revenue benefit to local
governments and education in Los Angeles County. Visit www.laedc.org
or call (888) 4-LAEDC-1.
[Editors:
For media interviews please contact George McQuade, MAYO Communications, (818)
340-5300 or PR@MayoCommunications.com.
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