International Collaboration: Banking, US And Japan.

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Every so often The Internationalist Page Blog provides updates from Ex-Im Bank when they are internationally significant in their implications. Japan is the US' second-greatest creditor, but both the US and Japan face similar problems in terms of their respective levels of exports versus their respective levels of imports.

In this specific case, two government-sponsored banks have created a "treaty" which will not only bode well for trade relations between the two countries, but will also help each of the two countries in terms of its balance of trade with the other countries in the international community.

The Release follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                    

October 24, 2012
Media contact: Phil Cogan – (202) 565-3200

Ex-Im Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation
Sign Co-financing Agreement to Facilitate U.S., Japanese Export Sales 

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- Officials from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) today signed a co-financing agreement that will facilitate future export transactions involving companies in both the United States and Japan.

The agreement enables Ex-Im and JBIC to provide “one-stop-shop” export finance services to buyers in third countries purchasing both U.S. and Japanese goods and services. The two nations’ export credit agencies (ECAs) will provide a one-stop-shop financing package, creating administrative efficiencies for foreign buyers. The agreement complements one signed in 2004 between Ex-Im Bank and Japan’s Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI).

JBIC Chief Operating Officer and Senior Managing Director Fumio Hoshi, representing JBIC Governor Hiroshi Okuda and Ex-Im Senior Vice President for Policy James C. Cruse , representing Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg, signed the agreement at Ex-Im’s headquarters in Washington, D.C..

“This arrangement paves the way for Ex-Im Bank and JBIC to co-finance projects, enabling exporters in both the U.S. and Japan to select the best mix of price and technology to strengthen their overseas bids and support jobs,” said Hochberg. “At the same time, exporters will be able to provide their buyers with only one set of terms and conditions covering both countries’ exports.”

This is the first “One-Stop Shop” co-financing agreement signed by JBIC with another ECA.

JBIC is a policy-based financial institution of Japan, and conducts lending, investment and guarantee operations while complementing the private sector financial institutions.

In addition to the JBIC and NEXI co-financing agreements, Ex-Im Bank currently has signed bilateral one-stop-shop agreements with ASHR’A (Israel), Atradius (The Netherlands), Coface (France), ECGD (U.K.), EDC (Canada), EFIC (Australia), EKF (Denmark), Euler Hermes (Germany), and SACE (Italy) and is in discussions with other ECAs to sign additional bilateral agreements. Ex-Im Bank will consider co-financing transactions without a formal bilateral agreement on a case-by-case basis. In fact, Ex-Im Bank has concluded a number of one off co-financing arrangements with GIEK (Norway), H-EXIM (Hungary) and ONDD (Belgium). 

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 five years (from Fiscal Year 2008), Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers nearly $1.6 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 $35.8 billion in total authorizations in FY 2012 – an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6.1 billion directly supporting small-business export sales – also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $50 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 255,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.

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What is interesting to note is that these treaties and economic agreements are being spearheaded by government-sponsored banks instead of by other agencies or diplomatic arms of these countries, or by the United Nations. 

Fueling business ventures [reference CrowdFunding Incubator LLC and The CrowdFunding Incubator Blog ] is a common denominator in international politics that every nation seems to understand. The banks are strong diplomats and policy-makers indeed. Many of us in the United States will recall that old expression (a classic) about "Put your money where your mouth is!" A timeless demand.

Douglas E. Castle

 

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EX-IM Bank Stimulating US-International Trade

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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

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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Major Banks: The World's Rulers.

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Image via Wikipedia - The IMF

The world's central banks and those powerful individuals and dynastic families which either run them, or own them (DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY) are the ultimate rulers, or oligarchs of the global economy and every self-proclaimed sovereign economy. They set foreign exchange rates (FOREX), they set interest rates, they control the money supply, they set credit and lending standards which can either cause the economy to grow beyond its means of eco-structural support, or can decimate smaller businesses and consumers whom they choose not to favor.

Major banks, acting in tacit or overt collusion have financed wars (often both sides involved in the conflict), created and pierced economic bubbles, addicted an entire species to the notion and necessity of credit, enslaved the declining middle class by helping to fan the flames of credit dependency, price inflation, and reducing disposable personal income for families spending an increasing percentage of their limited income servicing their indebtedness to banks.

Major banks which are an extension of the investigative, regulatory and executive/ enforcement functions of government cannot possibly be regulated by the governments whom they finance, and with whom they cooperate as principal informants.

This article excerpt below appeared several weeks ago courtesy of The New York Times:
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As European Nations Teeter, Only Lenders Get Central Bank's Help
By JACK EWING, The New York Times

The biggest fear, however, is not that a bank will succumb to a liquidity crisis, but that an entire country in the euro zone might do so.

[Note: The italicized emphasis on the words "Lenders" and "bank" in the above article outline was placed there by the author of this blog, with an element of obvious bias and sarcasm noted].
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Sadly, as banks have become increasingly internationalized, and had diversified their lines of business (i.e., have insinuated themselves) into all manner of industry, creating ever-increasing elements of business risk at the expense of their depositors and investors, they have become increasingly powerful, increasingly profitable (in fee-generating businesses and not through the prudent extension of credit).

They hold our limited savings hostage and make us pay fees to get them back. They defy every toothless regulation imposed upon them by regulators who are lamely trying to palliate an increasingly-disillusioned citizenry. Banks have they power to create opportunities and vast fortunes for those clients they prefer, while simultaneously putting entire industries (and their employees) out of work. And, ironically, substantially all banks are taxpayer-, depositor- and customer-subsidized. 

That's correct: They can gamble away our savings, foreclose on our homes, repossess our automobiles and reduce us to beggars in an instant -- and the governments which harbor these institutions, can force us to pay even more of our decreasing incomes to rescue these banks when they lose our savings and shut down our credit because they have breached their assumed fiduciary duty.

Certain banks, such as the IMF, Worldbank, the various EX-IM banks, and the large regional development banks manipulate international politics as part and parcel of their operations.

I am not trying to defame banks: they are extraordinarily successful at coin that for themselves -- all I am saying as a customer, an Internationalist and as an economist, is that the international fraternity of giant banks is failing, and that the citizens of the world are becoming increasingly subject to the ramifications associated with this civilization-threatening failure.

Yes. I used to be a banker.

Douglas E. Castle for THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE 

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