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Commerce secretary visits Tampa to promote international trade

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By MICHAEL SASSO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 7, 2009

TAMPA - New "one-stop-shops" for international trade, which could be set up in Tampa and elsewhere, should make doing business overseas easier, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said Friday.

Locke was in Tampa speaking to business leaders at the Tampa Port Authority building on Tampa's Channelside Drive. He listed several of the Obama Administration's goals for beefing up foreign trade and took wide-ranging questions from the audience.

Among the administration's goals is making things easier for businesses to get all of their trade questions answered in one spot in each metropolitan area. At the moment, businesses might have to go to one office for trade help from the Foreign Commercial Service, another office for a venture capital program and a third for a manufacturing assistance program, Locke said.

The first one-stop-shop should open in Detroit next month, and he hopes to expand the program to Tampa and other markets that have a Commerce Department office, Locke said.

Another priority for trade includes making it easier for foreign business people to visit the United States for business purposes, Locke said.

Naturally, trade with Cuba and transport to and from that island nation was a hot topic among audience members Friday. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, and Tampa International Airport Director Louis Miller said two charter flight companies are willing to do flights from Tampa to Cuba, although the airport is still waiting on federal approval.

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at (813) 259-7865.

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