EX-IM BANK DIRECTOR MAKES WASHINGTON TRADE DEVELOPMENT TRIP
Maria Luisa Haley, Board Director of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is promoting the Bank's export assistance to Washington companies — especially small businesses — during a round of trade development meetings Dec. 4 and 5 in the Seattle area.
I will be discussing Ex-Im Bank's plans not only to enhance support for large Washington companies, but more importantly to reach many more small businesses, and to highlight the thousands of subsuppliers who are the 'invisible exporters' and backbone of global trade, Haley said.
Ex-Im Bank supported $6 billion in exports by 53 companies in 38 Washington communities between fiscal 1993 and fiscal 1997; nearly 68 percent were small businesses.
Thursday, Dec. 4: Haley will tour The Boeing Company's 747 production facility in Everett, WA Thursday morning, followed by a luncheon in Everett with Boeing subsuppliers, the indirect beneficiaries of the aircraft manufacturer's Ex-Im Bank-financed overseas sales. Boeing last year awarded over $10 billion to subsuppliers in all 50 states, Haley noted.
Friday, Dec. 5: At a special breakfast meeting attended by small businesses Friday, Haley will disclose Ex-Im Bank's programs and future plans aimed at supporting small and mid-size Washington exporters. The event is sponsored by the Export Finance Assistance Center of Washington (EFACW), Ex-Im Bank's City-State Partner in Washington; and the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, an arm of the Greater Seattle Chamber Commerce. It will be held at the Chamber's Board Room. EFACW is a Top 5 Ex-Im Bank City-State Partner.
Congress voted to reauthorize Ex-Im Bank last month with overwhelming, bi-partisan support, Haley said. This means Ex-Im Bank has another four years to continue its important mission of sustaining U.S. jobs through exports.
Friday, Dec. 5: Haley will speak Friday evening at the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest, stressing the tremendous opportunities that lie in the Philippine market, one of Ex-Im Bank's largest Asian customers.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent government agency that finances U.S. exports.