Kenya business reps matched w/ Fla. companies to boost exports

Goal is to boost Florida exports by connecting Kenyan buyers to Florida vendors

ORLANDO, FL (August 6, 2010) – More than 500 appointments with Florida building and construction vendors await a delegation of Kenya buyers from 8:30 a.m. -5 p.m. August 11-14 at the Marriott Biscayne Bay in Miami.

This business matchmaking event has been arranged by Enterprise Florida in cooperation with the state’s U.S. Export Assistance Centers, the Foreign Commercial Service at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya and the Miami-Dade Office of Economic Development and International Trade.  The purpose is to connect the buyers – all high-level business professionals and members of the Barclays Bank of Nairobi, Kenya Business Club, which regularly coordinates trade missions for its clients – to potential partners in Florida’s building and construction sector.  “It supports Florida companies’ exporting efforts,” said Bryant Salter, director of Enterprise Florida’s Africa trade program.  “The number of appointments set up indicates that Florida companies have a tremendous eagerness to do business with Kenya.”

The delegation consists of 120 participants, and on August 11 half are scheduled to meet one-to-one with Florida businesses that sell new and used heavy equipment and a range of construction products and parts.  During the next three days, the buyers will visit construction sites and potential suppliers.  The remaining 60 will attend the Federation of International Medical Equipment (FIME) expo, a major healthcare tradeshow that attracts more than 30,000 attendees from all medical sectors nationwide, Canada and Central America.  FIME will take place at the Miami Beach Convention Center August 11-13.

Aside from Florida’s exporting efforts, this “inbound” mission supports President Obama’s National Export Initiative, launched this year to organize and improve U.S. job creation by promoting exports and ensure effective use of federal resources for this purpose.  Furthermore, it’s strengthening ties Florida established with Kenya in 2004 when Enterprise Florida and Miami Dade County sponsored a trade delegation there, said Salter.  “Florida is the natural gateway for developing business between Africa and the U.S.”

For information on business opportunities in Kenya, visit http://www.buyusa.gov/kenya/en/opportunities_kenya.pdf.

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Enterprise Florida, Inc. is a partnership between Florida’s business and government leaders and is the principal economic development organization for the state of Florida.  Headquartered in Orlando, EFI’s mission is to diversify Florida’s economy and create better-paying jobs for its citizens by supporting, attracting and helping to create businesses in innovative, high-growth industries.  In pursuit of its mission, EFI works closely with a statewide network of economic development partners and is funded both by the State of Florida and by private-sector businesses.