Ex-Im Bank Vice Chairman Eduardo Aguirre Addresses Greater Houston Partnership
Eduardo Aguirre, vice chairman and first vice president of the Export Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), today delivered the keynote address at a luncheon sponsored by the Greater Houston Partnership. Aguirre told Houston-area exporting companies that Ex-Im Bank can help Texas companies overcome financing barriers, enter emerging global markets and improve cash flows.
Emerging markets are home to nearly 90 percent of the world's people and are where much of the economic growth in the coming years is likely to be. Ex-Im Bank plays a critical role in filling the financing gaps in these important markets. We are particularly active in helping Texas companies. Last year, we supported nearly $1 billion of exports from the state, Aguirre said.
Earlier in the day, Aguirre met with executives at South Coast Products Inc., a small, Hispanic-owned company in Houston that manufactures and exports industrial lubricants and other materials. The company has used Ex-Im Bank's export credit insurance to expand its export markets.
On Thursday, April 11, Aguirre will meet with officials at the Texas Development Office in Austin.
Aguirre, who hails from the Houston area, was appointed to Ex-Im Bank on May 22, 2001, and was confirmed by the Senate in December. Prior to taking his current position at Ex-Im Bank, Aguirre served as president of Bank of America's International Private Bank.
The Greater Houston Partnership is a private, non-profit organization with over 2,000 member businesses. It is the primary advocate of Houston's business community and is dedicated to building economic prosperity in the Houston area.
In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has helped 672 Texas companies- including more than 320 in Houston- export more than $4.6 billion in goods and services, helping to sustain tens of thousands of jobs throughout the state.
Ex-Im Bank (www.exim.gov) is an independent U.S. government agency that helps finance the sale of U.S. exports primarily to emerging markets throughout the world by providing loans, guarantees, and export credit insurance. In fiscal year 2001, Ex-Im Bank supported $12.5 billion of U.S. exports worldwide.