Archive for February, 2009
Call for Nonprofit Leaders: International Fellows Program
Deadline: April 1, 2009
Atlas Service Corps (http://www.atlascorps.org/) is accepting applications for its 2009-10 Atlas Corps International Fellowship Program.
Atlas Corps is seeking the best mid-career nonprofit leaders in Latin America, India, Southeast Asia, and the United States to apply for a one-year overseas volunteer fellowship. Fellows from overseas will be placed at nonprofit organizations in Washington, D.C., including Ashoka, Asian American LEAD, CentroNía, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, Population Action International, and Service For Peace. Fellows from the U.S. will be placed at host organizations in Bogota, Colombia, including Give to Colombia and Oxfam GB.
The 2009-10 program begins in early September with a weeklong orientation and training session and will provide a full-time on-the-job training experience as well as knowledge and skill- building opportunities aimed at creating future nonprofit leaders.
Each fellow will receive assistance in applying for a J-1/travel visa, international travel to and from the host placement, a modest living stipend, medical insurance, and a $2,500 end-of- service award.
Successful applicants will have three or more years of experience in the nonprofit sector, a bachelor’s degree, excellent written and verbal English skills, and be committed to returning to their home country at the end of the program. (Applicants to Colombia must also be fluent in Spanish.)
Complete information on eligibility requirements and the application process is available at the Atlas Corps Web site.
RFP Link:
http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/pnd/15016992/atlascorps
Building Materials Manufacturer Lafarge Opens New Facility in Silver Grove, Kentucky
Building materials manufacturer Lafarge has begun cranking out product at its new state-of-the-art joint compound manufacturing plant.
This new, fully automated plant – adjacent to Lafarge’s Silver Grove gypsum wallboard plant – will make the complete range of Lafarge’s current joint compound product offerings including Rapid Coat, Classic Coat, Rapid Coat Mid-Weight, Rapid Deco and the new Rapid Coat Low Dust compound (Manufacturing & Technology eJournal, Tuesday, February 17, 2009).
Learn about doing Business with Asia and Celebrate the Chinese New Year
Looking for opportunities to better understand your Asian business partners and friends? Come to the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, February 19, 2009.
1) Trade Education Seminar: Global Diversity 101 – Doing Business with Asia
3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
2) Celebrate the Chinese New Year
5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Oriental Wok
Northern Kentucky University to Host 16 International Teachers
The International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP) is a program administered by the College of Education of Northern Kentucky University. The 2009 edition of the ILEP Fellows program will host 16 international teachers from 13 different countries.
Estimating the Price Effects of Non-tariff Measures
In a new report providd by the office of Econommics, U.S. International Trade Commission, a team of experts reviews the role of non-tariff barriers (NTBs). NTBs are difficult to quatify and negotiate. In this paper the authors offer policymakers a new method for quantifying NTBs by estimating price effects.
Special Contribution: Status of Indian Economy
Rajeshwar Parshad Swami
Secretary General
Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI)
At the IBEF Breakfast Session organised during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Mr Kamal Nath, Minister for Commerce and Industry, emphasised that the Indian economy’s fundamentals remained strong and that its growth trajectory would be led by its domestic demand driven growth model.
The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) channelised investments amounting to Rs 2,155 crore (US$ 439.90 million) in debt instruments during the initial trading days of the current year. Significantly, the government has cleared foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth Rs 1,277.23 crore (US$ 261.29 million) on January 28, 2009.
Further, Ernst & Young has announced that the opportunities for growth in the Indian infrastructure sector continue to be promising. Meanwhile, India’s growth story in the telecom space continues unabated. The country added 113.26 million new subscribers in 2008, the largest globally.
Monthly Contribution: The Future of NAFTA
Daniele S. Longo
Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Business Journal, February 1, 2009
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), signed by Canada, Mexico and the United States in 1992 and enacted in 1994, NAFTA links the economies of the three countries by gradually eliminating trade barriers. Since the inception of NAFTA, trade among Canada, Mexico and the U.S. rose from $293 billion to $909 billion and each day the three North American countries conduct well over $2.5 billion in trade. For example, for every dollar of merchandise exported to China, the U.S Exports $4 to Canada and $2 to Mexico.
NAFTA represents a key tool for the economic development and its main objectives of eliminating trade barriers, promotion of fair competition, increase of investment opportunities and effective protection of intellectual property rights (see complete text of the NAFTA Free Trade Agreement at NAFTA Secretariat, http://www.nafta-sec-alena.org) should be sheltered at a time when the new Administration is planning to renegotiate the agreement. Regional communities and businesses –most of whom export to the NAFTA countries- are encouraged to send a strong message in support of NAFTA and the pending Free Trade Agreements for Korea, Colombia and Panama.
“As the new Administration is getting organized in Washington, we must all realize that the rest of the globe wants to get a step ahead of the North American economy. Our collective task, as ambassadors of the Northern Kentucky economy is to send an unwavering message: we can compete in global markets,” said Steve Stevens, president of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
U.S. officials evaluate the possibility of trade restrictions. However, the rest of the world is opening to new market opportunities by ratifying international trade agreements (China and New Zealand), building transnational coalitions (i.e. Switzerland joining the barrier free Schengen area of the European Union on January 1, 2009) or executing large scale logistic infrastructures (i.e. railway connecting China with Germany).
During its enforcement, NAFTA helped the three members grow in terms of Gross Domestic Product (54% for the United States, 56% for Canada and 48% for Mexico) and most of all, jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2007 a total of 13.9 million manufacturing workers produced $870 billion worth of exports and more than one third of the manufacturing output ($330 billion) was exported to Canada and Mexico. U.S. agricultural exports destined for Canada or Mexico has grown from 22% in 1993 to 30% in 2007 with Mexico being a critical export destination for products such as beef, rice, corn, pork, poultry, eggs, and cotton.
See the complete text of the NAFTA Free Trade Agreement at NAFTA Secretariat at www.nafta-sec-alena.org.
Northern Kentucky International Trade Association (or NKITA) Blog 