One of the advantages of being a World Trade Centers Association member is the ability to work with other Centers on behalf of World Trade Center Delaware companies and the state's, Delaware’s, industries, academic institutions, and agencies. This is integral to our mission of expanding trade between Delaware and the rest of the world.

In May, we attended the U.S. Commercial Service Trade Winds Indo-Pacific Forum and Mission in New Delhi, and the Ghana Trade & Investment Forum in Washington, D. C. In June, we hosted a delegation of women entrepreneurs in from Peru in Delaware and exhibited at the U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Maputo, Mozambique. For each activity, we relied on WTCA partners or resources.

Trade Winds is the U.S. Government’s single largest trade mission and this year was no exception. Over 100 companies and 600 individuals, U.S. Government trade experts, and representatives from countries throughout the region participate in this event. WTC Delaware met with almost 20 U.S. Commercial Service officers from Embassies throughout the Indo-Pacific region. One of the highlights of our trip was to visit with WTC Noida, where we were hosted by Ms. Khair Ull Nissa, the executive director and her staff. WTC Noida is a planned city in Uttar Pradesh and a satellite city of Delhi. It is replacing Mumbai as the second-best realty destination, is ranked as the Best City in Housing in India, and is considered to be India’s greenest city with the highest green cover of any city in the country. A business incubator has already opened in the center of its state-of-the-art complex, and the two newest office towers were fully occupied with electronics companies as soon as they were completed. Many of these companies could be partners to those in Delaware.

WTC Delaware was pleased to work with WTC Accra to introduce Delaware companies in the environmental, risk management, agricultural, and drone technology sectors to Ghanaian companies and government agencies at the Ghana Trade & Investment Forum. Just a week later, we welcomed a Ghanaian company to membership in WTC Delaware, and are working with them as they seek to open a manufacturing site in Delaware.

Collaboration is key to expanding networks. Working with the Delaware Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, WTC Lima, and the World Association of Women Entrepreneurs, our senior business consultant, Dinette Rivera, organized a delegation of Peruvian women entrepreneurs. During the week, they met with a wide variety of Delaware businesses and the Governor. A visit to Peru is scheduled for Delaware companies in the fall.

WTC Delaware was selected to exhibit at a second U.S.-Africa Business Summit in a row. Twelve Heads of State and more than 1,000 American and African private sector executives, international investors, senior government officials, and multilateral stakeholders attended the Summit this year, a recognition of the importance of the continent as an emerging economic powerhouse. Six out of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world are located on the African continent.

The high points of this trip were invitations to a dinner hosted by the President of Zimbabwe and a luncheon meeting on healthcare with cabinet ministers and healthcare technology experts from a variety of countries. Since the Summit, WTC Delaware has taken companies to Washington to meet with several Ambassadors and commercial attaches.

Delaware is known as the “incorporation capital of the world.” Working with other World Trade Centers and collaborators from government and industry, we are facilitating partnerships between our innovative biopharmaceutical, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, banking and fintech, port and logistics, environmental services, and agricultural companies and those of other cities and countries. Membership in the World Trade Centers Association also helps us to present Delaware as a strategic, competitive location for companies that want to set up a business or find a partner in the U.S. With WTCA support, we bring the world to Delaware and Delaware to the world.