The Assistant Secretary for Trade Development, Michael Copps, will lead an energy and environmental trade mission to Prague, Budapest and Warsaw, December 2-9, 1999. Focusing on the energy sector, the mission will include representatives from 8-12 U.S. services and equipment firms interested in gaining access to the Eastern and Central European energy and environmental markets.
Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary offer the largest markets in Central and Eastern Europe for American suppliers of electrical power machinery equipment and services. Power generation facility modernization, energy efficiency systems, pollution prevention, decontamination, and pollution control equipment for electrical utilities appear to offer the leading opportunities. Decades of heavy dependence on coal have also resulted in markets for clean-coal technologies and flue gas clean-up systems. In addition, new opportunities are also being created by the liberalization of regulatory policy to allow competition in electricity services and related infrastructure.
The three countries plan to invest at least $ 37 billion in the electric power sector: Poland, $ 30 billion in the next 15 years; Hungary, $5 billion in the next 10-15 years; and the Czech Republic, $2 billion in the next two years.
Czech Rep. Hungary Poland Total
Installed capacity 15.1 MW 7.4 MW 35.7 MW 58.2 MW
% coal usage 64% 17% 74%
The mission's goals are to (1) gain first-hand market information, (2) provide U.S. energy firms who plan to expand their presence in the region with access to key government officials and potential business partners, (3) enhance the exposure of small and medium-sized U.S.-firms to importers, distributors and purchasers in the target countries, through one-on-one meetings, (4) understand the status of market liberalization programs, and (5) support the region's sustainable development objectives.
The Assistant Secretary for Trade Development and the business delegation will meet with appropriate government decision-makers in each of the three countries to obtain detailed information on their respective plans for liberalization and privatization of the energy sector and for environmental projects. Briefings by U.S. Embassy personnel and local energy/environmental experts from the private sector will be scheduled. Participating U.S. firms will be introduced to qualified business partners and potential representatives through mission events and a series of one-on-one meetings. Mission activities will include business receptions and plant visits as appropriate. The Assistant Secretary will work to advance U.S. commercial objectives for these companies and the sectors they represent.
The Mission itinerary will be as follows (schedule might change slightly):
Mission recruitment will be conducted in an open and public manner, including publication in the Federal Register, posting on the Internet, press releases to the general and trade media, direct mail and broadcast fax, e-mail, notices by industry trade associations and other multiplier groups, and at industry meetings, symposia, conferences, trade shows, etc.
Company participation will be determined on the basis of:
Participating firms must be incorporated in the United States and have the capacity to deliver relevant equipment or services to the countries visited. A company is eligible to participate only if the products and/or services that it will promote on the relevant mission either (a) are manufactured or produced in the United States; or (b) if manufactured or produced outside the United States, are marketed under the name of a U.S. firm and have U.S. content representing at least 51 percent of the value of the finished good or service. At the discretion of the Department, which will generally be exercised on a mission-specific and sector-by-sector basis, the 51 percent U.S. content requirement may be modified or waived.
Consistency of the company's goals with the scope and desired outcome of the mission as described. In addition, the Department may consider whether the companies' overall business objectives, including those of any U.S. or overseas affiliates, are fully consistent with the mission's foreign and commercial policy objectives.
Past, present, or prospective business in the region.
Diversity of company size, type, location, demographics, and traditional under-representation in business.
Timely receipt of signed mission application, participation agreement and of the participation fee ($3,900).
Provision of adequate information on company's products and/or services, and company's primary market objectives, in order to facilitate appropriate matching with potential business partners.
Initial decisions on private sector participants will be made by a group comprised of a minimum of three Commerce Department officials drawn from the following pool: the project officer or mission team leader, Department experts from the relevant industry and country sectors, the career Commercial Service Senior Officer based in the countries to be visited, for market relevance, and the Office of Business Liaison.
The recommendations of this group will be reviewed and adopted/disapproved by a five person review board consisting of the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration, the Assistant Secretary for Trade Development, a senior career lawyer in the Office of General Counsel, a senior ITA career official and the Director of the Office of Business Liaison.
Any partisan political activities of an applicant, including political contributions, will be entirely irrelevant to the selection process.
Andy Collier -- Phone: 202-482-0680 -- Fax: 202-482-3954 -- andrew_collier@ita.doc.gov
Mailing Address: Office of Energy, Infrastructure & Machinery -- Room 4056 International Trade Administration; U.S. Department of Commerce Washington, D.C. 20230.
All applications must be submitted by October 8, 1999. Applications received after that date will be considered only if space and scheduling constraints permit. The anticipated participation fee is $3,900 per company, plus normal travel and lodging expenses. Each selected company will be allowed to send one representative as part of the official delegation.