Westchester County’s International Program was established by County Executive Andrew Spano in 1998 to further economic, educational and cultural cooperation between Westchester County and strategic regions throughout the world, including China, Italy and Ireland. The County recognizes globalization’s impact on the local economy and has used its International Program to help local companies and educational institutions increase their competitiveness through global expansion.
CHINA
China, a five-time trade mission destination for Westchester County since 1998, has been New York's leading growth market for exports over the past five years and will continue to be an important consumer of the services and manufactured goods produced by New York companies.
Firms interested in doing business with China are able to leverage the County's extensive network of contacts in the region. In addition, the County has a “Sister City” relationship with Jingzhou and has signed several cooperative agreements with organizations in China, including the Pudong New Area of Shanghai, the Shandong Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Shanghai Pudong Productivity Center and the city of Wuxi.
For more information on Westchester County-led trade missions to China over the past eight years, please visit the following websites:
Articles of interest:
ITALY
In 2003, County Executive Andrew J. Spano opened up a "Westchester Desk" as part of an agreement with the Italian Center for Commercial Affairs-USA (ICCA) - a move which has paved the way for Westchester companies interested in doing business in Italy.
The Westchester Desk, which operates out of ICCA's offices at no charge to the county, works with the county's Office for Economic Development to promote trade, business opportunities, industrial cooperation, and cultural and technological exchange between key cities in Italy and Westchester County.
If you are a business based in Italy and looking for trade opportunities in Westchester, send an e-mail to americadesk@libero.it.
For general information, visit: www.americadesk-icca.com.
Articles of interest:
IRELAND
One only has to look at the impressive growth data coming out Ireland to understand why Westchester County has targeted Ireland as a strategic partner for economic development. In recent years, Ireland's rate of export growth has consistently outpaced world trade growth by a factor of three. In fact, seven of the top 10 IT companies in the world - IBM, Intel, HP, Dell, Oracle, Lotus and Microsoft - have more than 45,000 employees in Ireland.
In April 2004, a Westchester County delegation traveled to Ireland and Northern Ireland to meet with some of the individuals responsible for Ireland's unprecedented economic turnaround. The mission targeted the country's high-tech centers and helped link Westchester-based firms with Irish counterparts. County delegates met with top officials from the Irish Investment and Development Agency and Enterprise Ireland, a government development agency that assists businesses - primarily in the technology sector - export products to the United States and other countries.
Looking forward, Westchester anticipates enhanced cooperation with Irish economic development groups and linking additional Westchester-based firms with viable partners in the "emerald isle".
Articles of interest:
- The Irish Echo Online: Spano plans Irish biz trip
Westchester County is planning a major economic mission to tempt Irish tech companies to open a U.S. base in the wealthy New York suburb.
- Seeing Green in Ireland: Opportunities for U.S. Exports By Joan Kanlian
Although the market for exports of US products and services to Ireland appears small on the surface, the potential in fact is very high -- and the scope is broad.
