Former Governor John Engler, Leading Economist Lawrence Lindsey Are Featured Speakers April 17 at Ex-Im Bank Annual Conference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 30, 2008
Media Contact Name/Phone
Marianna Ohe (202-565-3200)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former three-term Michigan Governor John Engler, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), will be the opening keynote speaker April 17, at the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) two-day Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

The luncheon keynote speaker will be Lawrence B. Lindsey, president and CEO of the Lindsey Group, who served as assistant to the President and director of the National Economic Council at the White House in 2001-2002, and as a governor of the Federal Reserve System from 1991-1997.

Given the importance of exports in an increasingly competitive global economy, it will be particularly insightful to benefit from two experts with such wide-ranging public and private sector experience in economics and business, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President James H. Lambright.

Engler and Lindsey will address approximately 1,000 U.S. exporters, domestic and international lenders, brokers, and foreign government representatives and buyers gathered for the conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel April 17-18.

The theme of the conference, Global Infrastructure Development Opportunities, will be addressed in a wide range of seminars including: opportunities in the global cleantech market; how to navigate the Indian market with an estimated $585 billion of new infrastructure projects required over the next five years; Africas infrastructure electricity needs; financing U.S. exports to the Middle East; energy challenges and opportunities in Turkey; key markets in Europe and Central Asia; and airport infrastructure, a dynamic growth market.

As president of NAM since 2004, Engler has been a leading advocate for the more than 14 million Americans employed directly in manufacturing. His professed mission is to promote a broad-based agenda for maintaining U.S. competitiveness. After serving for 20 years in the Michigan Legislature, Engler was elected in 1990 as Michigans 46th governor and in 2001 as chairman of the National Governors Association.

Before forming the Lindsey Group in 2003, Lindsey served as an economic advisor in the George W. Bush administration. His earlier positions have included: Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Economics at the American Enterprise Institute; Federal Reserve System governor; special assistant to the president for domestic economic policy during the George H.W. Bush administration; senior staff economist for Tax Policy at the Council of Economic Advisers during President Reagans first term; and associate professor at Harvard University.

Ex-Im Bank is the official export-credit agency of the United States. The independent, self-sustaining federal agency, now in its 74th year, helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by financing the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan guarantees, export-credit insurance and direct loans. In fiscal year 2007, Ex-Im Bank authorized $12.6 billion in financing to support an estimated $16 billion of U.S. exports worldwide. On-line conference registration is still available at www.exim.gov.