LOS ANGELES – On March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, HSBC Bank, USA launched the Made For Trade initiative — an endeavor that looks to bring together leaders in business, government, industry, and the academe in a national discussion about the role of global trade in today’s economy.
Made For Trade examines the contribution of the international flow of goods, services, and capital to the economy, and the opportunities for American business that are made possible by global trade. Made For Trade makes four stops at four key cities in America that have their own unique business and trade industry histories: Los Angeles (March 17), Houston (May 13), San Francisco (June 18), and Chicago (July 30).
The Made For Trade concluding event will be held on October 2 in Washington, DC, where a day-long program will be held.
Each stop in the key cities includes the release of HSBC-commissioned study by a local business group that focuses on issues specific to that market, as well as a public program with research partners, local public officials, business leaders and academics.
The concluding event in Washington, DC will see the release of an HSBC-commissioned research by a leading scholar in the field of international trade, as well as discussions with thought leaders from around the country about the future of global trade and the policies that need to be developed in order to promote the flow of goods, services, and capital across the borders.
“Since its creation in 1865, trade has been at the heart of HSBC’s business. Our goal with Made For Trade is to bring business leaders, thought leaders, public officials and academics together to talk about trade,” said Irene Dorner, president and CEO for HSBC USA.
“Each of the cities we will visit has its own trade story. HSBC is the world’s leading bank for international trade. We support those cities and their local businesses with global business plans and aspirations,” she added.
Dorner also said that in relation to global trade, the “concept of east-to-west trade is outdated.”
“Today’s trade flows are east-west, north-south, with exporters and importers on both ends of that particular chain, and also all the way along the routes as well,” Dorner said.
Another key aspect in global trade that Dorner also emphasized is that human connectivity gets business done.
“We believe that stimulation trade is beneficial to Americans and American businesses. And in 20 years since the Northern American Free Trade Agreement was signed, trade among the US, Canada, and Mexico has tripled. And the combined Northern American economy has more than doubled in size,” Dorner said.
Dorner said that HSBC’s commitment to global trade and international customers and commerce is why they are holding Made For Trade.
LA City Mayor Eric Garcetti was also present at the event. Garcetti, who had recently returned from a trade mission to Mexico, said that HSBC’s decision to kick off Made For Trade in LA was “a vote of confidence” in the city’s key role in trade and commerce.
“I’m pleased to welcome HSBC’s Made for Trade tour to Los Angeles,” Garcetti said.
“With our world-class airport and the nation’s number one port, LA is a global hub for trade — a perfect launchpad for this effort to spur local companies to grow abroad and create jobs here at home,” he added.
According to Garcetti, LA is the perfect place to kick off the tour because the city is “literally made for trade.”
“[Trade] is part of the architecture, of the infrastructure of this place. It’s in our DNA, our business DNA,” Garcetti said.
Aside from Dorner and Garcetti, other speakers at the event included British Consul General Chris O’Connor (Vitality of Transatlantic Trade), HSBC Commercial Banking Head Steve Bottomley (Future of US Trade), other business and government leaders, and academics, who took part in panel discussions about Local Businesses Growing Internationally and Trade Perspectives from Abroad.
(AJPress)
