Department of State

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Department of State

• Office of Commercial and Business Affairs
• Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business
• www.state.gov/e/eeb/cba
• 202-647-1327

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Support for U.S. Business

• Commercial Trade Advocacy
• 2008 390 cases worked and 160 Success Stories
• Business Outreach
• 2008 over 130 business outreach events
• Business Facilitation
• 2008 over 100 business facilitation programs

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Commercial TRADE Advocacy

• Commercial transactional Advocacy
• Defense transactional Advocacy
• Investment Disputes
• Aviation/Transportation
• Trade Programs (IPR, Biotech, Ag.)
• Telecommunications
• Energy Security/Technology

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BUSINESS Outreach Programs

• Trade and Investment Capacity Building
• Aviation/Transportation
• General Business Climate
• Telecommunications
• Investment Policy and Promotion
• Energy Security/ Technology
• Defense and Border/Infrastructure Security

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Business Facilitation Programs

Post Partnership Programs/MOU TPCC
Programs Public-Private Partnerships Competiti
veness (Business Travel Facilitation Export
Control Licenses) Country Commercial
Coordinators Regional Economic Working
Groups
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Business Facilitation Programs

• Post Partnership Programs/MOU
• Expand business/trade promotion activities
  overseas, with special attention to countries
  where the State Department leads the commercial
  function.
• Prioritize High Commercial Activity Posts to
  enhance Commercial Service-State Post Partner
  Programs.
• Extend focus on training, IT capabilities,
  regional initiatives and efforts tied to U.S.
  Trade Agencies.
• Apply special attention on small business
  development, promoting investment, economic
  empowerment, and priorities identified by the
  Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee.

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Business Facilitation Programs

• Post Partnership Programs/MOU
• Partner Post Programs are determined by the CS
  Regional Directors, in coordination with their
  Senior Commercial Officers (SCOs) at CS Partner
  Posts, EEB/CBA and state Partner Posts.
• Partner Post Programs depend on the commercial
  opportunities in the relevant market, the
  resources available at the CS Partner Posts to
  support the State Partner Post, ongoing
  commitment of successive FSOs and SCOs, and the
  ability of personnel at the State Partner Post to
  support commercial work.

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Business Facilitation Programs

• Post Partnership Programs/MOU
• Gold key
• Regional Gold Key
• International Partner Search
• International Company profile
• Customized Market Research
• Quicktake (where available)
• International Buyer Program

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Business Facilitation Programs

• Post Partnership Programs/MOU
• Branded CS Products and Services may not be
  provided by any non-CS Post that has not been
  designated a State Partner Post pursuant to a
  Partner Post Program.
• State posts that do not fall under the Post
  Partnership Program/MOU may be authorized to
  collect fees for providing non-customized (non-CS
  branded) business services to a U.S. company.
  Such Authorizations will be very limited.

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Business Facilitation Programs

• Post Partnership Programs /MOU
• WORLDWIDE PROGRAMS
• Albania, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Barbados,
• Belize, Bosnia Herzegovina, Brunei, Cambodia,
• Cyprus, Estonia, Fiji, Iceland, Jamaica, Latvia,
• Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro,
• Mongolia, Nicaragua, Oman, Slovenia, Sri Lanka,
• Trinidad Tobago, Tunisia, and Uruguay

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BUSINESS FACILITATION PROGRAMS

• Post Partnership Programs /MOU
• AFRICA TIER 1
• Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ivory
  Coast, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,
  Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
• AFRICA TIER 2
• Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Congo K, Gabon,
  Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi,
  Mali, Swaziland

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Business Facilitation Programs

• Post Partnership Programs/MOU
• A CS Participation Agreement is required for the
  delivery of all branded CS products and services.
  A CS Participation Agreement will not be
  executed until the CS Partner Post has
• (a) determined that the State Partner Post is
  best placed to deliver and
• (b) received confirmation from the State Partner
  Post that it can deliver the CS Product in
  accordance with the requirements set forth in the
  proposed CS Participations Agreement.

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Business Facilitation Programs

• Post Partnership Programs/ MOU
• These fees are comprised of two components
• (1) The fee collected by CS on behalf of State
  for services provided to the client by the State
  Partner Post and
• (2) The fee collected by CS for services
  provided to the client by CS including
  negotiating the Participation Agreement,
  processing the payment, collecting client
  feedback, and other administrative services.

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Business Facilitation Programs

• Post Partnership Programs/ MOU
  DIVISION OF FEES
• All fees collected pursuant to the joint
  CS-State Post Partnership will be divided 15 to
  CS and 85 to State.
• The fifteen percent of the collected fees given
  to CS will be broken down into two parts data
  entry and administrative fees.

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Business Facilitation Programs

• Post Partnership Programs/ MOU
• DATE ENTRY TEMPLATE
• State Department Partner Posts will collect all
  relevant data and submit this data
  electronically to specified Commercial Service
  posts.
• Information will be transmitted in the
  agreed-upon data entry template.

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Business Facilitation Programs

• Post Partnership Programs/ MOU
• DIVISION OF FEES
• State Funds (85) processed through State/ RM on
  quarterly basis.
• State Funds (85) processed immediately back to
  State Partner Post.
• State Funds (85) are two-year posts funds.
  Must be used to fund Commercial function
  activities.

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Business Facilitation Programs

• Post Partnership Programs/ MOU
• DATA ENTRY TEMPLATE
• 1 Year trial period
• Data collection
• Future CS TT connections?

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WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIAL PLATFORM?

• Strategic Planning with Commercial Service-State
  Joint Partnership Program
• Active in Fee for Services Program (MOU)
• Active in Market Research Programs (Country
  Commercial Guides, reporting trade leads,
  providing current best market prospects)
• Support Trade Agencies (TDA, OPIC, EX-IM, SBA)
• Reporting Success Stories
• Maintain commercial web-page
• Active in International Buyer Program (IBP)
• Active in Trade/ Catalogs Shows (in country and
  regional)
• BFIF Program Participation
• Business Travel Visa Facilitation

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WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIAL PLATFORM?

• Finding the Right Balance
• Post Partnership Program
• Trade Capacity Building
• Investment Capacity Building
• Economic Policy / Public Diplomacy

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WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIAL PLATFORM?

• Finding the Right Balance
• BFIF Support Post Partnership/MOU training
• and Strategic Planning
• BFIF Support Trade and Investment Capacity
  Building
• Performance Measures!!!