U.S. Consulate General Press Releases (1998)

News Release
July 24, 1998
Friday

EX-IM BANK CHAIRMAN TRAVELS TO JAPAN, CHINA, AND THAILAND

James A. Harmon Says Ex-Im Bank Committed to Financing U.S. Exports to Asia

Washington, D.C.: Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) Chairman James A. Harmon is making his first official visit to Japan, China, and Thailand from July 20 to July 31, 1998, to gain a first-hand perspective on economic developments in Asia, and to actively promote Ex-Im Bank's financing programs for U.S. exporters in these vital export markets. The trip also marks the first visit by an Ex-Im Bank chairman to an interior province in China.

He will visit Hong Kong from July 25 through July 28.

"Ex-Im Bank plays an important role in supporting American exports to countries throughout Asia, but particularly to China, which is the Bank's second largest market in the world," said Mr. Harmon. "My purpose in traveling to Asia now is to learn as much as possible about what Ex-Im Bank can do to keep American goods and services flowing to this vast region of the world. Supporting exports to Asia is essential for U.S. businesses as well as for America's continued economic growth," he concluded.

Harmon will meet with senior government officials and business leaders in all three countries. His first stop was Tokyo, Japan, where he met with representatives from the Japanese Export-Import Bank (JExim Bank), the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), and the American Chamber of Commerce. In China, Harmon is making stops in Beijing, Hong Kong, Chengdu, and Shanghai, where he will meet with American and Chinese business leaders as well as with local government officials. The final stop on the trip is Bangkok, Thailand, on July 31.

This is Chairman Harmon's second official trip to Asia this year. In January, Harmon traveled to South Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines. As a result of his earlier trip, Ex-Im Bank announced a $750 million export credit package for Korea. In May, a similar $1 billion short-term financing package was established to support U.S. exports to Indonesia. In June, Harmon signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Korea for an additional $2.25 billion commitment in potential short- and medium-term export credit support.

In China, Ex-Im Bank has total exposure of more than $5 billion and estimates it will support approximately $1 billion of U.S. exports to Chinese companies and government-sponsored infrastructure projects in fiscal year 1998. Ex-Im Bank financing has supported U.S. exports primarily to the energy, transportation, and manufacturing sectors of the Chinese economy.

Ex-Im Bank has had long-standing, cooperative relationships with both its Japanese counterpart, JExim Bank, and with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. In 1991, Ex-Im Bank entered into a cooperative agreement with JExim, MITI, and the Japan Development Bank to advance the mutual international export trade objectives of the United States and Japan. In February of this year, Ex-Im Bank and MITI jointly sponsored an initiative among the G-7 export credit agencies to coordinate efforts to maintain trade flows to Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.

Ex-Im Bank authorized its first export credit to Thailand in 1958. Today, the Bank has total exposure in Thailand of more than $780 million.

In the rest of Asia, Ex-Im Bank is currently open for business in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency that assists in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to industrializing and developing markets all over the world by providing loans, loan guarantees, and export credit insurance. In fiscal year 1997, Ex-Im Bank supported $15 billion of U.S. exports.

Visit Ex-Im Bank's web site at www.exim.gov

*     *     *     *     *