News Releases for March 2004
March 9, 2004
For further information, please Contact the Governor's Office
Hoeven Announces Taiwan, Japan Trade Mission
Lt. Gov. Dalrymple To Lead Delegation
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven today announced a trade mission to Taiwan and Japan designed to expand North Dakota exports. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) has invited North Dakota to explore trading and diplomatic relations in Taiwan.
Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple will lead a delegation of 11 diverse North Dakota businesses (92kb pdf), including seven value-added agriculture-related companies and four manufacturers chosen for their export growth potential in both Asian nations.
“With this mission we are extending our economic development efforts beyond the borders of North Dakota and the United States in order to tap the enormous trade potential of growing markets in Asia,” Hoeven said. “Our efforts include not only our high quality agricultural products, but also two other industries we have targeted for growth in North Dakota - technology-based products and advanced manufacturing. This effort will further enhance the ability of our state’s businesses to diversify our economy, which creates new wealth and higher paying jobs for our citizens.”
The objectives of the mission are to:
- Strengthen North Dakota’s position as a supplier of products to Taiwan and Japan.
- Discover and establish new business opportunities for exporting North Dakota goods and services to Asia.
- Seek sales and sales opportunities.
Taiwan is the world's fourteenth largest economy and the United States’ seventh largest trading partner, importing $18 billion from the U.S. every year. Taiwan is experiencing strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4 percent a year, according to the latest quarterly economic data. The country imports approximately $2.5 million worth of products directly from North Dakota annually. Taiwan is also a major importer of agricultural crops, including 20 million bushels of spring wheat, and more than 100 million metric tons of soybeans annually from the U.S.
Japan imports about $15 million worth of goods directly from North Dakota. Additionally, Japan is North Dakota’s largest agriculture export market, buying 50 million bushels of spring wheat annually. Japan is also the United States’ largest non-NAFTA trading partner, purchasing $51 billion of U.S. exports annually, $10 billion of which is agricultural products. Japan has a GDP of approximately $4.5 trillion, greater than that of Germany and France combined, roughly four times that of China. Japan’s 126 million citizens enjoy one of the highest annual per capita incomes and maintain almost $150,000 per household in savings.
Jo-Chin Wang, Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, said, “I have high expectations for the growth of North Dakota products in Taiwan. Today we are a small trading partner for this state but believe that we can grow significantly by starting with these targeted industries.”
“Taiwan and Japan are two of the most important export markets in terms of potential for North Dakota products,” Dalrymple said. “In fact, the Taiwanese government has acknowledged its interest in North Dakota products by their gracious invitation and their work to secure meetings for us with high level Taiwanese business.
“PRACS Institute, Ltd. is excited about this opportunity to link with Taiwan and Japan in the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals arena,” said Jim Carlson, President of PRACS Institute, LTD. “Our usual approach to international business is a slow, costly, time consuming process to find the right link with our target audience. The anticipated Trade Mission meeting schedule has already identified a link which would have taken us years to achieve.”
“Given the rate of increase in exports to Taiwan over the past few years, and the size of the Japanese market, the potential to expand our trade position with these countries is enormous,” said Linda Butts, director of the Economic Development and Finance Division of the Department of Commerce. “This mission dovetails nicely with the governor’s vision and the establishment of our new North Dakota Trade Office, designed to expand export volume in North Dakota and bring new money into the state.”
North Dakota currently has about 1,000 exporters; about 76 percent of these are small and medium size businesses. In addition, there are about 7,000 export-related jobs in the state, which generally pay between 13 and 18 percent higher than domestic jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Between 2000 and 2002 - the most recent years for which numbers were available - the value of raw commodity exports from North Dakota grew from $1.2 billion to $1.9 billion - about 58 percent. Between 2002 and 2003, manufacturing exports grew from $644 million to $854 million - a gain of $200 million or 32 percent.
The delegation will depart North Dakota on March 19 and arrive in Taiwan on March 20. The group will arrive in Japan on March 25 and return to North Dakota on March 28.
E-mail comments to the Governor
