Washington, D.C. – Today, the Export-Import of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is announcing a number of prominent international business, academic, media and government leaders who will speak at the Ex-Im 2015 Annual Conference to be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., on April 23rd and 24th. Each spring, the conference brings together more than 1,200 large and small business exporters, buyers from as many as 40 countries, policy makers, as well as state and local government representatives to discuss global economic trends and how US companies can take advantage of those trends to expand their exports and create jobs.
The two-day event will feature remarks and panel discussions with some of the world’s leading voices in business and trade, including Ambassador Susan Rice, US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker; Doug Oberhelman, chairman and CEO of Caterpillar Inc.; W. James McNerney, Jr., chairman and CEO of The Boeing Company; Steven Rattner, chairman of Willett Advisors LLC; Joe Kaeser, president and CEO of Siemens AG; Stephen S. Poloz, governor of the Bank of Canada; Jacqueline Hinman, chairman and CEO of CH2M Hill; Yousef Al Otaiba is Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States; and Dr. Mo Ibrahim, founder and chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, established in 2006 to support good governance and leadership on the African continent.
The conference will also feature small business customers of the Export-Import Bank who have used Ex-Im’s products to expand their exports and create jobs. Small business participants will include Christopher Ashman, president of Northrock Enterprises; Susan Axelrod, chairwoman and founder of Love and Quiches; Martha Montoya, president of Los Kitos Produce; Mary Howe, president of Howe Corporation; and James Siedewand, president of Resin Technology.
Award-winning journalists who will take part in panel discussions include Gillian Tett, U.S. managing editor of the Financial Times, Andrea Mitchell, NBC’s chief foreign affairs correspondent, who covers foreign policy, intelligence, and national security issues for NBC News and MSNBC, and David J. Rothkopf, CEO and editor of the FP Group.
A detailed agenda is available at: http://www.exim.gov/
ABOUT EX-IM BANK:
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that supports and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, direct loans and export-credit insurance, to promote the sale of U.S. goods and services abroad. Ninety percent of its transactions directly serve American small businesses.
In fiscal year 2014, Ex-Im Bank approved $20.5 billion in total authorizations. These authorizations supported an estimated $27.5 billion in U.S. export sales, as well as approximately 164,000 American jobs in communities across the country.
Small-business exporters can learn about how Ex-Im Bank products can empower them to increase foreign sales by clicking here. For more information about Ex-Im, visit www.exim.gov.