[StBernard] Louisiana: Gateway for the Global Marketplace

Westley Annis Westley at da-parish.com
Fri Dec 28 00:45:00 EST 2007


Gene Schreiber, WTC Managing Director, served as a member of Governor-elect
Jindal's Transition Team Working Group on Business Retention and
Recruitment. At the request of the Working Group's chair for input from its
members, Gene submitted the following piece.
________________________________


LOUISIANA: GATEWAY FOR THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE

<http://www.wtcno.org/email/la-globe.jpg> As Governor-elect Jindal prepares
to assume office, we should remind ourselves that the international
opportunities for Louisiana are simply tremendous as the United States
becomes further integrated into the ever-expanding global economy.

Louisiana must compete successfully in that global environment, and not just
against Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama. The state should position itself to
become "The Gateway for the Global Marketplace" for both outbound and
inbound cargos and the related added value and jobs that can be generated
through new distribution facilities, industry, technology, and logistical
services. The state already has significant assets that work to its
advantage internationally, including:

* A Rich History: Louisiana was settled by the French, Spanish and
other nationalities starting over 300 years ago for the purpose of world
trade, and that objective is every bit as important today as it was then.
This is a very multinational, multicultural, and multilingual state, and we
should fully exploit that intrinsic competitive advantage.


* An Entrepot: "Entrepot" is an underused but relevant word defined in
the dictionary as "a commercial center whose goods are received for
distribution, transshipment, or repackaging." Louisiana of course already
meets that criteria, but can do even better in the future as an
international transportation hub and distribution center for primary,
intermediate and finished products going to and from Mid-America due to the
state's strategic geographic location and the Gulf of Mexico, the
Mississippi River, the state's vast inland waterways network, the Gulf
Intracoastal Waterway, six Class I railroads, the Interstate highway system,
and its airports.


* The Mega-Port: Few of our own residents -- let alone outsiders --
are aware that the lower Mississippi River in Louisiana has the largest port
complex in the world in total waterborne commerce (five deepwater ports from
Baton Rouge to the Gulf), a powerful asset that needs to be jointly marketed
more aggressively worldwide. One in seven jobs in Louisiana is estimated to
be maritime-dependent, which in turn generates about 13 percent of the
state's gross domestic product. The ports along the river are doing quite
well as transit ports but they can be much more than that, as in other
states. They have the potential to add more processing, value, and jobs to
inbound and outbound cargos (such as been done with coffee) for steel,
rubber, petrochemical, agricultural, forestry, seafood, and other products.
But greatly increased, coordinated financial support from State government
and the Legislature to upgrade the port facilities is absolutely essential
to accomplish that objective, as happens in other maritime states. Investing
in Louisiana's transportation infrastructure is an assured statewide
economic multiplier many times over.


* The Hemispheric Advantage: The Mississippi River is truly "The
Avenue of the Americas," a magnificent water highway leading to and from the
rest of the world, and especially to nearby Latin America. In 2006 a record
total of $23.5 billion of Louisiana-originating products and bulk
commodities from other states (especially agricultural exports) were shipped
worldwide from our deepwater ports -- after ag products came chemicals,
petroleum and coal, processed food, and transportation equipment. Nearly
one-fourth of those exports last year went to Latin America. Moreover, for
the first nine months of 2007 Mexico was the #1 market for Louisiana
exports, overtaking Japan, and Canada ranked third, with both results
reflecting the positive trade impact that the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) has had on Louisiana. In addition, the U.S.-Central
American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) passed in 2006, the recently approved
U.S.-Peru FTA, the pending FTAs with Colombia and Panama, the widening of
the Panama Canal, and the eventual opening of the Cuba market to U.S. goods
all offer timely opportunities for Louisiana and its strong hemispheric
transportation links to the U.S. heartland.


* Strategic Action: Much more can be said on how the forces of
globalization can be used to Louisiana's further advantage, given the
state's inherent competitive strengths and attributes. As Governor, Bobby
Jindal should seize the initiative with business, government, and the
academic community to develop creative strategies and an international
master plan that will build on those assets that Louisiana can leverage to
the world.


Eugene Schreiber
Managing Director
World Trade Center of New Orleans
(Member, Governor-elect's Working Group
on Business Retention and Recruitment)
December 18, 2007
________________________________

Founded in 1943 as a not-for-profit membership organization, the World Trade
Center of New Orleans was the first of what are today 309 WTCs in 88
countries that service more than one million businesses engaged in
international commerce. WTC New Orleans' mission is to add wealth and jobs
in New Orleans and Louisiana through international trade, port development,
and allied activities.


If you would like information on the many benefits of membership in the
World Trade Center, click here <http://wtcno.org/membership/benefits.htm> .





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