News

WASHINGTON - President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Kimberly A. Reed met today with a delegation from Puerto Rico led by Puerto Rico Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce Manuel Laboy Rivera. Chairman Reed and Secretary Laboy Rivera discussed how EXIM could help more Puerto Rican businesses export their "Made in the USA" products around the world.

The Puerto Rico delegation participants included:

• Manuel Laboy Rivera, Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce
• Joel Piza Batiz, Executive Director, Puerto Rico Ports Authority
• Rod Miller, CEO, Invest Puerto Rico
• Brad Dean, CEO, Discover Puerto Rico
• Christin Trinidad, Chief Legal Counsel of Puerto Rico Ports Authority
• Gail Nolan, Chief Strategy Officer, Invest Puerto Rico

Other participants included:

• EXIM Advisory Committee Member Joanne Young, Managing Partner, Kirstein & Young, PLLC
• David Kirstein, Managing Partner, Kirstein & Young, PLLC
• Michael Woods, Senior Associate, Kirstein & Young, PLLC

Pictured (left-right) Christian Trinidad; Brad Dean; Joel Piza Batiz; Joanne Young; Secretary Laboy Rivera; Rod Miller; EXIM Chairman Reed, Gail Nolan; Michael Woods; and David Kirstein

During the discussion, Chairman Reed highlighted EXIM's ability to support Puerto Rican exports, including those in the pharmaceutical, medical device, agriculture biotechnology, and aerospace industries. These exports are all important to Puerto Rico's economy and jobs, particularly as the United States recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, focuses on economic recovery, and develops a COVID-19 vaccine for potential export around the world. The U.S. Department of Transportation recently granted transfer flexibility rights to international carriers which, when combined with Puerto Rico's unique geographic location, will enhance its U.S. export ability.

Chairman Reed also outlined EXIM's new Program on China and Transformational Exports, which includes innovative U.S. exports like biomedical sciences, biotechnology, and 5G that are critical to Puerto Rico's economy. Secretary Laboy Rivera underscored White House Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Dr. Peter Navarro's comment: "China Fired, Puerto Rico, Hired! . . . Puerto Rico well on its way to becoming a premier medical supply manufacturing hub once again!"

EXIM Chairman Reed engages in a discussion with the delegation from Puerto Rico led by Secretary Laboy Rivera

Chairman Reed previously met with Secretary Laboy Rivera in June 2019 to discuss how EXIM can support the expansion of Puerto Rican businesses, particularly small business.

ABOUT EXIM:

EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to support sales of U.S. goods and services to international buyers. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, approximately 90 percent of the total number of the agency's authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt.

For more information about EXIM, please visit www.exim.gov.