World Trade Center St. Louis and Senator Kit Bond Leading Trade Delegation to Indonesia
Contact:
KJamboretz@SLCEC.com - 314.520.2043
Shana@KitBond.com
St. Louis, January 13, 2012 -- Over the next week, World Trade Center St. Louis (WTC), former United States Senator Kit Bond, and the Kit Bond Strategies (KBS) team are leading a trade delegation to Indonesia.
"Southeast Asia is growing incredibly fast, and we see it as being one of the next big U.S. trade partners." said Tim Nowak, executive director of World Trade Center St. Louis. "We think, in many ways, it is going to be as big as the Chinese market. That is why companies are so eager to begin building relationships in this part of the world."
The St. Louis regional delegation to Indonesia is made up of small, medium and large businesses, as well as universities. This trade delegation will visit Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung, and Surabya where it will meet with government and business leaders to explore mutually beneficial economic and commercial opportunities.
"As a fast-growing company, we are very focused on ways to open up the Asian markets," said Kent Schien, founder & CEO of Innoventor. "It is an area where we see tremendous growth potential. The opportunity to go to Indonesia with a statesman like Sen. Bond, who has spent a lifetime building bonds in Southeast Asia, is invaluable. The reason I am going is to build my company and hire more and more people here in Missouri."
In addition to developing new economic opportunities through their participation, members of the trade delegation will strengthen the people-to-people ties between the U.S. and Indonesia. For example, on this week's trip, some of Missouri's top universities will meet with Indonesian education officials on building a deeper partnership between schools in both countries. Also, since 2004, St. Louis, Missouri has had a Sister Cities relationship with the city of Bogor, Indonesia. While there, the delegation will celebrate this long-standing relationship at a special ceremony.
Track the delegation's progress and developments throughout the course of the trip by following the official WTC Twitter account - @WTCSTL.
Interested media can contact WTC and KBS to arrange one-on-one interviews with delegation members at: KJamboretz@SLCEC.com and Shana@KitBond.com.
###
