U.S. Cities Looking For More Foreign Investment
More and more U.S. cities are seeking increased foreign investments to create more revenue for themselves and the citizens living and working there. As the economic climate remains dreary in the United States, one nation continues to seek out regions for enhancing its global investments: China. One city that is attempting major improvements in receiving foreign investments from China is San Antonio. Having already signed industrial agreements with two Chinese cities, Suzhou and Wuxi, San Antonio is looking to brand itself as an international city as reputable as other major cities in the States.
Friendship Cities were also established between Suzhou and San Antonio. Having an already sound relationship with Latin America, San Antonio wants to increase its recognition in Europe and Asia, using China as its Asia anchor and launching point into Vietnam, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian countries. These industrial and business agreements between San Antonio and other Asian cities will increase the likelihood of diplomacy through educational, business and cultural exchanges. San Antonio has already completed a campaign at the U.S. Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo on enhancing the city's image in order to attract foreign investment from Chinese businesses who may be interested in the large Texas city.
Along with business relationships comes cultural and citizen relationships. Agreements will spur business exchanges and local colleges and universities will develop abroad opportunities due to the availability of programs pertinent to the city. San Antonio along with the University of Texas-San Antonio has already produced an agreement with Hong Kong for a China-U.S. exchange program for graduate-level business students, which will greatly improve those students' knowledge of the world and global competence level, an important tool in competing for jobs.
You can imagine the relationships built in the name of diplomacy, and when U.S. cities engage in searching foreign investment, they open the door not only to increased revenue, but also to a breadth of cultural and educational opportunities and resources that are necessary to championing citizen diplomacy.
Posted Monday, August 30, 2010