Every so often, EX-IM Bank takes decisive action (sadly with much expensive lobbying to precede it) to stimulate US-International trade, and to play a responsible role in the creation of U.S. jobs -- one of the understood purposes for which it was formed. I wanted to share this bulletin with all of my Internationalist friends and colleagues today. - Douglas E. Castle
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For Immediate Release – January 11, 2012
Media contact: Phil Cogan (202)565-3200
Media contact: Phil Cogan (202)565-3200
Ex-Im Bank Approves Export Financing for Power Generation Equipment Supporting 825 Jobs at Siemens North Carolina Plant
$638 Million Sale Contributes to Obama Administration American Jobs Initiative
WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The board of directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States at its Thursday (Jan. 5) meeting approved a $638 million direct loan to finance the sale by Siemens Energy, Inc. of gas and steam turbines to be installed in Saudi Arabia.
This is the second order being produced by 825 new highly-skilled workers at Siemens’ Charlotte, North Carolina facility. The plant was specifically constructed, and the work force hired, to produce American-made goods to serve markets around the world, from Latin America to the Middle East, from North America to Asia.
The announcement comes today as President Obama hosts a forum at the White House with CEOs of large and small companies to discuss efforts to bring jobs back to America. As part of this forum, the President will meet with business leaders to discuss the advantages of manufacturing in the United States and what can be done to encourage more companies to insource American jobs.
“This order represents a real vote of confidence in our Nation’s workforce,” said Fred P. Hochberg, chairman and president of Ex-Im Bank. “Siemens, a global leader in manufacturing, has chosen to build a plant in the U.S. specifically to produce equipment for export. The skills and productivity of American workers are a big reason why that plant is there, and I’m proud that Ex-Im’s financing helped win this order.”
Ex-Im Bank financing helped Siemens win the sale against competition from Japan, Germany and Korea.
“Siemens-Ex-Im Bank partnership recognizes an all-important fact about America’s place in the global economy: the rest of the world is eager to do business with the United States,” said Randy Zwirn, President and CEO, Siemens Energy, Inc. “With a highly skilled workforce behind us, our newly expanded Charlotte energy hub will produce the world’s most technologically advanced gas turbines helping to meet the world’s growing energy demands.”
The turbines in this sale are part of an over $2 billion project involving the construction and operation of a combined cycle, gas-fired Independent Power Plan (IPP) with a capacity of 4,000 megawatts. It is located in Qurayyah on the eastern coast of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The project involves the export of ten Siemens Model F5 gas turbines, 18 gas turbine and steam turbine generators, ancillary equipment and services from the U.S.
The borrower is Hajr for Electricity Production Company in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The project will sell capacity and energy under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Saudi Electricity Company. This is the second IPP that Ex-Im Bank has financed in Saudi Arabia.
ABOUT EX-IM BANK
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past six years, Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers $3.7 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved $32.7 billion in total authorizations in FY 2011 -- an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6 billion directly supporting small-business export sales -- also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $41 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 290,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.
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The sad reality is that in order to get significant funding or guaranties for any major project from EX-IM increasingly requires the use of expert political lobbyists, which, of course requires a substantial investment of time and money on the part of the petitioning entity.
There are a few ways to navigate around this, and my suggestions follow:
1) Get the endorsement of a local politician (in the form of an enthusiastic letter) and attach it or include it with your first correspondence with EXIM in your region of the country;
2) Partner your opportunity with a larger, better capitalized entity which either has an effective lobbying machine in place, or can be counted upon to support one;
3) Bundle a regionalized group of companies with common trade objectives, and initiate your petitioning activity with EXIM with the premise of the aggregate economic stimulus and jobs creation that would be put into motion if EXIM were to participate. By the way, sometimes forming an informal Economic Development Committee is an attractant to political sponsorship and some lobbying in your favor by some political aspirants who would like to energize their own campaigns through your organizational efforts and EX-IM request.
Always bear in mind what the benefits to your local politicians would be if they were to "get behind" your request for financing or guaranties. Leverage their publicity lust for your success in obtaining what you require in financing. If you are even more ambitious, letters to some of the high-ranking officials in the Department Of Commerce, The Department of Labor and The Department Of State asking for their endorsement of your efforts (hopefully in the form of a response letter of commendation and support, and/ or a few telephone calls) will make an even more powerful impression. Aim high.
Douglas E. Castle for THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE.
p.s. Help support our efforts by following as many of our Twitter accounts as you can without suffering a computer or psychological breakdown.
Go to http://TwitterLinksHubspot.blogspot.com to find a whole list of them --the more, the merrier. Thank you. Tweets and Re-Tweets are also most helpful. - Thank you.
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