Showing posts with label CHAIRMAN FRED HOCHBERG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CHAIRMAN FRED HOCHBERG. Show all posts

Thursday, April 16, 2015

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK CHAIRMAN PROMOTES TRADE LEGISLATION INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS

FROM:  U.S. EXPORT IMPORT BANK
Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred P. Hochberg’s Statement on the Bipartisan Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015

Washington, D.C. – Export-Import Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg issued the following statement today in reaction to the introduction of the Bipartisan Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015:

“Trade promotion legislation is a critical bipartisan tool that will lead to expanded opportunity for U.S. exporters and the millions of American workers whose jobs depend on trade.  As Ex-Im Bank pursues its mission of empowering U.S. businesses to take on stiff foreign competition and bring more good-paying jobs to our shores—and as more and more American small businesses join the ranks of direct exporters—TPA will ensure that the U.S. continues to have a strong voice in writing the rules of the road where global trade is concerned.  With critical trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership on the horizon, TPA will be essential to ensuring that the U.S. continues to compete on a level playing field, and that American workers will be able to seize the opportunities made possible by trade for generations to come.”

ABOUT EX-IM BANK:

Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that supports and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees and export credit insurance, to promote the sale of U.S. goods and services abroad. Ninety percent of its transactions directly serve American small businesses.

In fiscal year 2014, Ex-Im Bank approved $20.5 billion in total authorizations. These authorizations supported an estimated $27.5 billion in U.S. export sales, as well as approximately 164,000 American jobs in communities across the country.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK CHAIRMAN HOCHBERG'S MESSAGE

FROM:  U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Message from the Chairman,
Fred Hochberg

Let me begin by telling you how honored I am to have been reappointed by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate for another term as Chairman of the Export-Import Bank. After a strong, bipartisan vote, I look forward to working with the excellent team here at Ex-Im on behalf of American exporters, supporting jobs here at home through sales abroad. And I look forward to working with all of you.

As we continue our economic recovery, exports continue to play a key role. Over the past four years, Ex-Im Bank’s financing has supported nearly one million American jobs and helped thousands of small businesses expand their reach into international markets.  The Bank also delivered more than $1 billion to the U.S. Treasury during this period at no cost to American taxpayers.

Moving forward, all of us at Ex-Im will continue to work with members of Congress, our Board and customers to ensure that America’s workers, small business owners, and exporters have access to the financing they need.  We’ll work to ensure America’s exporters are able to compete on a level playing field and sell their products and services around the world.

Aside from the confirmation proceedings, it’s been an eventful three months here at Ex-Im. I would like to update you on our latest results.

Following fiscal year 2012’s record results, Ex-Im is on track for another productive year—thanks to America’s dynamic exporting community.  Authorizations in our April-June quarter were $6 billion, for a total of $21.7billion for the year to date.  More important, our financing supported 165,000 export-related American jobs so far this year in communities across the country.  Our total exposure is nearly $110 billion.

The Bank’s year-to-date authorizations have declined relative to the same period last year from $23.8 billion to $21.7 billion, a promising trend that illustrates the renewed lending activity of commercial banks in the wake of the financial crisis. Our transportation authorizations, for instance, will be down overall as commercial banks re-enter commercial-aircraft financing, though our support for general aviation and helicopters has increased as we have diversified our portfolio.  Mining, which has traditionally played a large role, will decrease as well due in large part to slower global demand for commodities. However, our authorizations for satellite and manufacturing deals are up this year.  We’ve done more transactions this year than in FY 2012, but our ticket sizes are smaller. While commercial banks are stepping back into the breach, we’re still needed to do the tougher, more complicated deals.

And if you allow me to brag a little, we won three prestigious awards:

Trade Finance magazine named Ex-Im “Best Global Export Credit Agency” for the second time and, for the fourth consecutive time, “Best ECA in the Americas.”  Besides that, Trade Finance recognized Ex-Im for our participation in six “Deals of the Year.”
Two weeks later, London’s Trade and Forfaiting Review named us “World’s Best Export Credit Agency” for our support for exports and innovative deals.
AirFinance Journal recognized Ex-Im for four 2012 aviation “Deal of the Year” awards – each of them financed by our innovative Bank-guaranteed bonds, one of our most successful innovations in recent years.
We’ve achieved these results without any significant increase in staff, instead creating new financial products to meet the unique needs of our exporters competing in today’s global economy.  For example, our innovative Global Credit Express program for short-term working capital loans to small exporters continues to grow rapidly.  We’re having great success with our capital markets initiative that issues large, long-term guaranteed bonds for export sales like commercial aircraft.

I was also pleased that President Obama recently nominated Ex-Im Bank Vice Chair Wanda Felton for a second term here.  Among her accomplishments, she’s been a driving force behind our successful expansion of financing exports to Sub-Saharan Africa.  We look forward to her timely confirmation by the Senate.

Sadly, Director Larry Walther left the Bank earlier this month after two years of outstanding service as a member of our Board of Directors.  Larry is a seasoned pro in trade finance and promotion here and in his beloved Arkansas, where he returns for some well-earned relaxation.

None of these successes would have been possible without the creativity, hard work and dedication of Ex-Im staff – in support of our exporters who continue to sell world-class goods and services to buyers in over 150 countries.  You are a great team, and I’m proud to work with you.

Sincerely,
Fred P. Hochberg

Monday, April 1, 2013

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK CHAIRMAN SAYS NEW AUTHROIZATIONS UP 75 PERCENT IN FIRST QUARTER

FROM:  EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Fred Hochberg, Chairman Export-Import Bank
Message from the Chairman
What a quarter!

New authorizations here at the Export Import Bank were up by 75 percent over last year’s first quarter. They reached $7.45 billion in the first quarter (October-December) of fiscal year 2013 – supporting approximately 57,000 U.S. jobs – compared to $4.3 billion a year earlier.

The top industry sector was infrastructure with concentrations in manufacturing, aircraft, information and communications service providers, and power projects. The top destination markets for this quarter were India, Germany, Russia, and Poland.

Also during the first quarter, we hit a new record of 43 percent growth of authorizations for working capital and credit insurance for minority- and women- owned exporters, coming on the heels of a record breaking 2012. The amount authorized for small business was almost $1.2 million. This is a 49 percent increase from the first quarter in 2012, putting Ex-Im Bank on track for another strong year for small business.

The results show that our record-breaking levels of authorizations are gathering momentum. We did this the old-fashioned way – superior customer service and sharp focus on emerging opportunities. But the real credit belongs to American exporters with their innovative, high-quality U.S. products and services that carry the label, "Made in USA."

Comments from several of these exporters square with these numbers.

For example, Charlie Szews of the Oshkosh Corp. shared with me that he expects his company’s exports to increase by double digits in 2013. The reason, he notes, is "our competitive advantage largely related to our advanced technologies." Randy Zwirn of Siemens, he tells me, saw his exports shifting toward emerging markets like Nigeria, Vietnam and Chile making new investments in needed infrastructure projects. I heard similar upbeat reports from Caterpillar and Dow Chemical.

Besides redoubling current efforts, we’re aiming for new record results with a stronger focus on these priorities:

Infrastructure Financing offers tremendous opportunities in emerging countries from southern Africa and South Asia to Latin America. India alone expects to spend a trillion dollars in the next five years for highways, seaports, electricity, and satellites. These require long-term financing, which Ex-Im is positioned to provide. I’m on my way to India at the end of January to explore financing opportunities there.

Small Business financing has grown strongly, but we intend to do much better. By adding four new regional offices last year, we now have 11 around the country – to recruit and train small businesses and financers. Our goal is that at least 20 percent of new authorizations will go to small businesses each year.

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most promising markets for U.S. exports, and we will do our part to expand here. We approved a record $1.5 billion of authorizations last year for this region, financing about seven percent of all U.S. exports there. Transactions there ranged from the sale of Boeing 787s to Ethiopian Airlines and Darley fire-fighting equipment in Nigeria. With strong growth continuing in most countries there, the possibilities are dazzling.

Customer Service will get even more attention as we continue to expand financing and numbers of new customers, with no increase in Ex-Im Bank staff. With help from our Total Enterprise Modernization project, we are streamlining even more our application, approval and disbursement systems, and empowering staff to make even more key decisions using their professional judgment. Already, we processed 90 percent of all transaction in 300 days or less – and 98 percent in less than 100 days.

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