U.S. Trade and Development Agency Releases 1996 Annual Report To Congress

For Immediate Release

Washington, D.C. - Innovative small business outreach efforts, a new program that requires private sector companies to repay the federal government for grant assistance, and initiatives to rebuild the Bosnian economy and help U.S. companies win multi-million dollar contracts for infrastructure projects in emerging markets around the world are among the highlights of the U.S. Trade and Development Agencyís Annual Report released to Congress today.

"TDA no longer is the ëbest kept secret in Washingtoní," says TDA Director J. Joseph Grandmaison. "As the Cold War of the 1980ís has given way to the export competition of the 1990ís, ushering in an increasingly fierce rivalry between the United States and the economic powers of Europe and Asia for greater export market share, we have become an increasingly important partner to the U.S. private sector. During 1996, we worked with hundreds of small businesses, first-time exporters, and others to help them beat their foreign competitors for contracts on projects that produce millions of dollars of exports and sustain thousands of jobs here at home."

TDA also fully implemented its "success fee" program during 1996. The program requires private sector companies receiving TDA grants to reimburse the U.S. Treasury when the project the company performs a project plan for becomes a success. TDA also required the private sector to share in the cost of more than 70 percent of the feasibility studies it funded. - up from only 20 percent during the 1989-1991 period.

Among the other highlights in the Agencyís 1996 Annual Report:

• TDA funded 354 activities in 53 middle-income and developing nations.
• Feasibility studies topped the list of TDA-funded activities. The agency provided 102 grants for these project plans.
• The most projects were funded in Eastern & Central Europe (90), followed by Latin America (83), Asia (63), the New Independent States (56), and Africa (55). Seven projects were multi-regional.
• Transportation-related projects (90) were the largest funded sector, followed by Energy/Power and Water/Environment (both 54), Manufacturing (48), and Telecommunication (26).
• Small businesses won nearly 40 percent of TDAís feasibility study grants, up from 23 percent just two years earlier.
• The agency spent $51,313,870 on program activities during FY 1996. These figures included $16,205,870 in transfers from other agencies for programs, mainly for its efforts in the New Independent States, South Balkans, and Bosnia.
• TDA played a lead role in the Presidential Economic and Development Mission to Bosnia led by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Mickey Kantor, investing $2.76 million in technical assistance and project planning.
• TDA invested more than $7 million in technical assistance to Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Albania in the first round of grants of President Clintonís South Balkan Development Initiative.
• The agency researched, organized, and hosted a visit by Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov that opened up mining, gas, and oil tracts that previously were unavailable to American firms.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency, based in Rosslyn, Va., is an independent federal agency that assists in the creation of jobs for Americans by helping U.S. companies pursue overseas business opportunities. TDA provides American firms with market entry, exposure and information through the funding of feasibility studies, technical assistance, and reverse trade missions. These efforts help American businesses establish a position in markets that are otherwise difficult to penetrate.

TDAís 1996 Annual Report includes statistics on its programs, case studies, and details on its regional efforts as well as those in key industrial sectors. Copies are available upon request from TDA Public Affairs at 703-875-4357.

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