News

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snow, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald L. Evans, and former Director of Private Sector Development for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Thomas C. Foley will deliver keynote addresses at the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) Annual Conference on Thursday, April 29 and Friday, April 30 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Snow will discuss the U.S. role in global trade and Bush Administration efforts to support U.S. exports in a 9:20 a.m. address on April 29. Evans will speak about the importance of exports to the U.S. economy in a 12:30 p.m. luncheon address on April 29. Foley will discuss economic prospects in Iraq in his keynote on April 30 at 9 a.m. The conference is expected to draw 1,000 business, financial, and government leaders from around the world.

As the 73rd Secretary of the Treasury, Snow has led the Bush Administration's domestic and international financial, economic, and tax policymaking. As Secretary, Snow helps formulate the nation's fiscal policies, manages the public debt, and- as the government's chief financial officer- serves as chairman pro tempore of the President's Economic Policy Council, chairman of the boards and managing trustee of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds, and as U.S. governor of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Prior to his appointment, Snow was chairman and chief executive officer of CSX Corporation.

Evans, the 34th Secretary of Commerce, oversees an agency responsible for helping establish U.S. trade policy, enforcing international trade laws, gathering economic and demographic data, issuing patents and trademarks, helping set technical standards, forecasting the weather, conducting oceans and coastal zone research, managing marine fisheries and sanctuaries, enforcing international trade laws, and developing telecommunications and technology policy. Evans was a businessman in the oil and gas industry before becoming Commerce Secretary. He is also an ex officio member of Ex-Im Bank's board of directors.

Foley oversaw 200 Iraqi state-owned enterprises for the CPA. Previously, Foley had led several businesses and a family foundation, and had nearly 20 years of business experience as a private equity investor through the NTC Group of Greenwich, Conn.

Ex-Im Bank this year marks its 70th year of helping finance the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan guarantees, export credit insurance, and direct loans. In fiscal year 2003, Ex-Im Bank, an independent federal agency, authorized financing to support $14.3 billion of U.S. exports worldwide. For more information on Ex-Im Bank, visit www.exim.gov.