Healthcare Trade Mission to Australia and New Zealand, September 12-16, 2005. Join the U.S. Department of Commerce's Healthcare Trade Mission to Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand. Meet with prospective distributors, resellers, and strategic partners in these dynamic markets. The trade mission will target a broad range of sectors within the industry, including information technologies and healthcare - a top prospect in both of these rapidly expanding, import-dominated medical markets. U.S. participants will benefit from pre-screened appointments, market briefings, networking receptions, and follow-up assistance. If you are interested, please contact Bill Kutson, Project Manager by telephone at 202-482-2839, by fax at 202-482-0178 or by email at William.Kutson@mail.doc.gov.

Insitute of Scrap Recycling Industries Certified Trade Mission: Paper/Paperboard, China, September 14-23, 2005. For more information, please contact Eileen Bai at Eileen.Bai@mail.doc.gov.

Access Eastern Mediterranean: Study USA Tour and Catalog Show, Morocco, Israel, West Bank, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, September-October, 2005. The Eastern Mediterranean countries of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, West Bank/Gaza, along with Morocco, with a combined population 190 million, offer many opportunities for accredited post-secondary U.S. educational service providers. With only one registration and payment, institutions can be promoted in any combination of these seven markets in September-October 2005. For more information, please visit www.buyusa.gov/easternmed/education.html.

Mission, Trade Show and Conference: Off-Shoring and Outsourcing in South America, October 11-14, 2005. A great opportunity for American companies to meet with over 20,000 of the key executives who decide investment, joint-ventures, business and purchasing for distributors, wholesalers, chains, retailers, industrial, food & beverage manufacturers, logistic companies, financial & service companies and exporters in the region, with a total purchase power of over 20 billion dollars. These trade shows are the most important events of their kind hosted in South America for several years in a row and receive participants from Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Ecuador among other countries. If you are interested, please contact the New York Commercial Office by telephone at 201-861-3359 or online at http://www.oficinacomercialny.com/brochure.

The 2005 State of Maine Gubernatorial Trade Mission to France, October 22-29, 2005. France is the world's fifth largest industrialized economy and the eighth largest trading partner for the United States. Maines exports to France totaled $18.5 million in 2004, a 36% increase from 2003. Mission benefits include customized one-on-one business appointments, in-country market research, pre-mission videoconferencing and networking events. If you are interested, please contact Cory Crocker, Trade Mission Coordinator, by telephone at 207-541-7418 or by e-mail at crocker@mitc.com.

Environmental Technologies Trade Mission to Central Europe, November 7-11, 2005, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic. For more information please contact Bill Cline at Bill.Cline@mail.doc.gov.

Press Releases  

International Finance Help for Your Company
Have you ever wondered about ways to reduce exposure on receivables you have in euros; possible benefits of invoicing your Canadian customers in Canadian dollars; or how exchange rates may be affecting your firm's business?

This fall, student teams from USM's MBA class in international finance will be available to research and to make recommendations to management on issues related to international financial management.  Past projects have ranged from comparing various techniques of hedging a large foreign currency receivable to providing managers with a primer on how foreign exchange rates have affected the company's competitive position.  The projects provide real-world experience for our MBA students, generally take limited management time, but give you free advice on issues that you may not have the time or expertise to address.  This may be an ideal way to explore new business opportunities and ways to meet the challenges that exchange rates pose in our global economy.

If you would like to discuss possibilities for this fall or sometime in the future, please call or email:  Professor David Vander Linden, USM School of Business, 207-780-4496, dvander@usm.maine.edu

Oceanair, Inc. Customs House/Freight Forwarder Job Opening
Customs House/Freight Forwarder, looking for qualified person to assist with daily operations. This individual will be responsible for the overall day-to-day functioning of the office, clerical tasks (requires accuracy), data entry, and record keeping.  Excellent customer service skills are a must. This requires a person who is highly organized, has experience dealing with customers on a daily basis, good communication skills and a
good problem solver. Pay based on experience. Computer skills; working with Excel and Word. Licensed Customs Broker a plus but not required. Fax application to Kelly L'Heureux at 207-761-5820.

US Council for Int'l Business Celebrates Congressional Passage of CAFTA 
USCIB recently announced their support of congressional approval of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). In a press release, USCIB stated that the agreement would bring new opportunities for exports of U.S. goods and services, improved prospects for working with Central America to raise its labor and environmental standards, and provide impetus for the WTO Doha Round.
Web: http://www.uscib.org/index.asp?documentID=3351

FY 2005 Agricultural Exports Expected to Reach $59 Billion
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has predicted that FY 2005 will be the third strongest sales year in history for exports of U.S. agricultural products. While there will be increased international competition in bulk commodities such as grains, oilseeds and cotton, the weaker dollar should boost sales in other areas. Fruits and vegetables, wines, essential oils, and dry milk powder exports are expected to grow.
Web: www.export.gov
 
Economic Development Administration Webcast
EDA hosted a satellite telecast that showcases bold, new initiatives in the expansion of workforce development systems for maintaining and strengthening America's economic strength.  America must ensure that its workers have the opportunity to equip themselves with the necessary tools to succeed in a new and dynamic global economy. This will require local, regional, state and federal partnerships that closely link economic development and workforce development efforts.  This show includes discussions on what it takes to build a world class workforce, including an example of a new streamlined workforce development system in the state of Mississippi and a community college perspective of how local efforts are putting these concepts into practice.
Web: http://www.eda.gov/NewsEvents/WebCastsVideos.xml

Protecting Intellectual Property
To learn how your company can protect its trademarks, patents and copyrights overseas, or to file an intellectual property-related trade complaint, visit Commerce's one-stop-shop for information on registering and enforcing intellectual property rights. Call 1-866-999-HALT or visit: http://www.Stopfakes.gov 

USM Center for Continuing Education will be offering classes in French, Chinese, German, Italian, ASL, Latin this fall at their new facility, the Abromson Community Education Center on the Portland Campus. 
Web: www.usm.maine.edu/cce