Governor Bob McDonnell will co-host the 5th Annual
Governor’s Conference on Agricultural Trade on March 7 and 8 in Richmond. The
two-day conference, entitled “Virginia and the Global Market,” is
co-hosted by Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics,
the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Virginia Farm
Bureau Federation and the Virginia Port Authority. The event will bring
together producers, agribusinesses, exporters, foreign ambassadors, embassy
ministers, land-grant university leadership, state and federal government
officials, and others to discuss challenges and opportunities for global
exports. Workshops and private meetings regarding the international trade
of agricultural goods will be held as well.
Governor McDonnell will address the conference on Thursday,
March 7 at 12 noon. The Governor will discuss the importance of
agricultural exports and the role agriculture and forestry, the state’s largest
industries, play in Virginia’s economy. The Governor will also announce
total figures for agricultural exports from Virginia for 2012. In 2011,
the Commonwealth totaled more than $2.35 billion in agricultural exports, an
all-time record. That followed 2010’s $2.24 billion figure, the second
largest total in history.
Speaking about the event, Governor McDonnell said, “I’m
pleased to again co-host the Governor’s Conference on Agricultural Trade, which
has become the premier event highlighting the importance of agricultural
exports on the Commonwealth’s economy. These exports are generating billions of
dollars and creating thousands of jobs throughout Virginia, from our farmlands
to our ports. That’s just one of the reasons I decided to integrate fully
agriculture and forestry into my administration’s overall economic development
and jobs creation agenda. However, we also know that there are many more
opportunities in the global marketplace for our producers and exporters.
With the new international marketing resources we’ve secured from the General
Assembly, we’re now able to work more strategically with our private sector
partners to take advance of these opportunities. This conference is part
of that effort, and I encourage all stakeholders currently exporting or
interested in exporting to attend.
In addition to Governor McDonnell, the conference is
scheduled to feature presentations from, among others, Ambassador Mike Moore of
New Zealand; Ambassador Islam Siddiqui, Chief Agriculture Negotiator for the
Office of the United States Trade Representative; Dr. Charles Steger, President
of Virginia Tech; Todd Haymore, Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry;
Rodney Oliver, Executive Director, Virginia Port Authority; Mike McClendon,
East Coast President, Lineage Logistics; and J.B. Penn, Chief Economist, Deere
and Company.
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’
(VDACS) international marketing representatives from Hong Kong, China, India,
the European Union, and Latin America will serve on a panel discussing their
efforts to increase exports from Virginia. In addition, the foreign trade
representatives will be available to meet privately with attendees who are
interested in exploring export opportunities in the countries or regions where
they are based.
Since taking office in 2010, Governor McDonnell led overseas
trade and marketing missions to Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Switzerland,
the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Japan, China, South Korea, Israel, and
India. These missions and the work of VDACS’ new international marketing
staff with Virginia’s private sector exporters have resulted in almost $500
million in new agricultural exports from Virginia so far. Gubernatorial
trade missions for 2013 are being planned now.
Agriculture and forestry are Virginia's largest industries,
with a combined economic impact of $79 billion annually: $55 billion from
agriculture and $24 billion from forestry. The industries also provide
approximately 500,000 jobs in the Commonwealth according to the Weldon Cooper
Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia.
Details:
What: The Governor’s
Conference on Agricultural Trade Conference information and a
tentative agenda available here: http://www.vafarmbureau.org/Agriculture/AgTradeConference.aspx
When: Thursday, March
7: 11:45 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Friday, March 8: 7:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Where: Omni Hotel,
Richmond
Who: Governor
McDonnell, U.S. and Virginia-based agribusinesses, exporters, foreign
ambassadors, embassy ministers, land-grant university personnel
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