Trade conference focuses on U.S. interaction with Asia

Many participants in Fresno concentrate on policy with Laos.

By Bethany Clough / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Saturday, May 14, 2005, 7:01 AM)

Yia Yang, left, and Mee Her, center, of Sacramento look over exotic wood products from Laos on Friday as Souphot Manikhong, right, general director of SMP Enterprises, shows off the items at the International Trade Conference at the Fresno Convention Center.
Diana Baldrica / The Fresno Bee






The green and pink silk scarves displayed at the International Trade Conference on Friday were a first.

Chanthao Pathammavong Thiphasane had never brought the hand-woven scarves to the United States before. Selling them had been nearly impossible because of dauntingly high import taxes, up to 90%.

She and about 350 other people gathered Friday at the Fresno Convention Center to learn how a new policy with Laos cut those taxes and how the United States and Asian countries can increase trade.

The U.S. normalized trade relations with Laos in December 2004, meaning that for the first time since the Vietnam War, tariffs on exported goods were slashed to almost 2%.

"Before, the import taxes were so high we cannot sell here," Thiphasane said. "We are here looking for buyers."

The conference was sponsored by the city of Fresno's Economic Development Department, the nonprofit group Global Partnership for International Trade and Development and other agencies.

The department's interim manager, Lynn Bowness, said she hoped interaction with representatives from Laos, Japan, Vietnam, China and other countries would lead to formal discussions about establishing more trade with the region.

"So then we can really sit down soon and decide what are the best products that can be exchanged, who are the businesspeople to do that," Bowness said. "From the city of Fresno's perspective, it's yet another way to strengthen our economy."

Though little trade has happened between Laos and the United States so far, participants came with ideas of what could be traded. The Laotian ambassador to the United States reminisced about the "famous Fresno strawberry" he once tasted, and a Southern California man spoke of exporting karaoke DVDs from Laos. Although the conference covered trade with Pacific Rim countries, many people focused on the new policy with Laos. But not all of the conversation was rosy.

The country of 6 million still lacks education and a free press and is plagued with poverty and a "government that continues to violate the human rights of its citizens," said Kristen Bauer, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy to Laos.

Some American groups opposed free trade with Laos because of how it treats ethnic minorities. Bauer said the country's government is still "unwilling to acknowledge publicly the existence of Hmong groups living deep in the jungles who are afraid to come out."

But Bauer said she is hopeful that trading with other countries will encourage Laos to become a "prosperous, stable, democratic country."

The reporter can be reached at bclough@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6431.