ICYMI: Shaheen Discusses Economic Diplomacy with USTDA Director Ebong at World Affairs Council of New Hampshire in Durham

(Durham, NH) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) Director Enoh T. Ebong for a discussion hosted by World Affairs Council of New Hampshire Executive Director Tim Horgan about the role of U.S. businesses in supporting emerging economies around the world. The pair discussed how international engagement from U.S. businesses not only strengthens the American economy but helps boost our global partnerships, which advance U.S. national security interests. You can find photos from the event here and watch the discussion in full here.

Key quotes from Senator Shaheen:

• “I've been in a lot of countries in the last few years and everywhere I've been they want to see more trade with the United States, and that's what the U.S. Trade Development Agency helps do, is make that happen and make it happen in a way that invests in infrastructure that makes it possible for countries around the world, particularly in Africa and Latin America and in the Indo-Pacific to be able to develop that relationship. And as we think about the challenges that we have in the U.S. and with our future, with the threat from China....Having the ability to provide an alternative for countries that allows us to make help them make investments in their own futures, their own economies, is really critical.”

• “I chair the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee in the Senate, and in 2010 we set up a program called STEP. It's an investment that allows small businesses to get grants to help get into international markets...We've got over 2,000 businesses in New Hampshire that are actually benefiting from working with USTDA, [and] with other international support efforts to get into international markets, and that's good for business in New Hampshire, it's good for those small businesses.”

• “Right now, we have multiple ambassadorial nominees who are on hold because there are various Senators who don't want to appoint ambassadors because they don't want to allow the administration currently to have any people in place. And it's important for us to point out that this is not about whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, this is about what is in the best interest of the United States and making sure that we have diplomats on the ground who can defend America's interests in countries around the world is absolutely critical. And I'll guarantee you that the People's Republic of China is not having those debates. They have more diplomats on the ground than the United States does. And making sure that we fund agencies like USTDA, like the EXIM Bank, those agencies that help us is in our national security and we need to remind people.”

• “And we need to wake up and continue to operate in the best interest of the United States which means supporting our allies and partners, it means funding the kind of trade efforts that USTDA is doing, it means ensuring that we have diplomats on the ground who can defend America. That is in the interest of the United States, and we need to support that and I hope you all will help us with that.”

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