The Global Small Business Blog: What's NEXT for the National Export Initiative? Try NEI/NEXT.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

What's NEXT for the National Export Initiative? Try NEI/NEXT.

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced NEI/NEXT – a data-based, customer service-driven initiative to ensure that more American businesses can fully capitalize on markets that are opening up around the world. NEI/NEXT will build on Administration-wide achievements under the National Export Initiative (NEI) through five core objectives, to help all businesses reach the 95 percent of consumers who live outside the United States. Here are the objectives:

1. Connecting more U.S. businesses to their NEXT global customer with tailored industry-specific information and assistance.

2. Making the NEXT international shipment easier and less expensive, through efforts to streamline U.S. government export-related services, reporting requirements and processes, and speeding American goods to more markets through domestic infrastructure improvements.

3. Expanding access to finance for U.S. businesses’ NEXT export transaction, helping more exporters obtain financing to meet international demand, and ensuring more companies know what products and services are available to reduce risk and export to new markets with confidence.

4. Promoting exports and foreign direct investment attraction as the NEXT economic development priority in communities and regions across the country by enhancing partnerships with local and state leaders and by coordinating with SelectUSA, the U.S. government-wide program housed within the Department of Commerce to facilitate foreign direct investment.

5. Creating, fostering and ensuring U.S. business’ NEXT global opportunity by helping developed and developing economies improve their business environments, by opening new markets, and by establishing conditions and addressing barriers to allow more American exporters to compete and win abroad.