International Opportunities for L.A.
Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn is putting a major emphasis on international trade to grow the local economy. That was seen at his first “International State of the City Address,” where he promised to expand trade opportunities in a city that is already one of the country’s international powerhouses.
“According to the U.S. Customs District, $212 billion in trade goes through this customs district,” Hahn said at a gathering of businesspeople at the downtown Los Angeles World Trade Center on May 22. “And 35 percent of all containers coming to America come through the two ports here [Long Beach and Los Angeles].”
But Hahn said he believes there is plenty of room to grow.
“There are a lot of small and mediumsized businesses here that are not participating in international trade,” he noted. “There are opportunities here. You may look small to yourself, but you get a Web site and nobody knows how big [or small] you are.”
The mayor pointed out that in the last two years, he has made trips to Mexico and Asia to promote business between the two areas and Los Angeles. In Mexico, his group met with Grupo Gigante to encourage the supermarket chain to open more stores in Los Angeles County and convinced AeroMexico to establish a daily flight between the Ontario International Airport east of Los Angeles and the northwestern Mexican city of Hermosillo.
Last November, on his 10-day whirlwind tour through Asia—which included stops in Japan, China and Taiwan—the mayor and his entourage of city council members and businesspeople talked to Beijing officials about Southern California companies helping the Chinese organize and produce the 2008 Summer Olympics.
“We have some expertise we can share—we have hosted the Olympics twice,” he said. “Southern California is on the short list of companies that are going to help China in 2008.”
But developing international trade could be a slow and methodical process. According to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. (LAEDC), 2003 promises to be a difficult year for the global economy. Germany and Japan will continue to struggle. Other factors, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and efforts to improve security in international trade, will affect business.
Still the Los Angeles–Long Beach port complex, which handled 6.9 percent more tonnage in 2002 than in 2001, was the busiest on the West Coast last year, said the LAEDC.
The main exports out of the area were electrical apparatus and components, which totaled $11.3 billion in 2002. And the largest import commodity into Los Angeles was electric machinery, which totaled $22.8 billion last year.
The mayor’s office has set up an Office of International Trade to help local companies find business opportunities outside the United States. One of those assisted recently was Giovinezza Corp., a Los Angeles– based cosmetic and skin-care company that is custom-designing products for the market in India.
“We will work to see how we can help companies here get access to the global market,” Hahn said. —Deborah Belgum
