By Aubrey Campbell

NEW YORK, NY. - Accessing the lucrative yet highly regulated import/export trade opportunities between continental Africa, The Caribbean and the USA, was the subject of a recent business development seminar for minority businesses in Pennsylvania. The seminar was staged at the Enterprise Center, PA.

The event which was attended by over 125 entrepreneurs from the greater Philadelphia area, heard from a panel of experts on a number of international trade topics, including; facilitating import/export across Africa, the Caribbean region and the USA; understanding the importance of the regulatory requirements and trade compliance as well as the financial and technical requirements.

Seminar convener, Kayo Malomo, chairman – Small Business Services at the Mayor’s Commission on African and Caribbean Affairs, Philadelphia, said that the event was well received by the participants and subject matter experts.

“From the feedback from some of the participants/entrepreneurs at the event, the contributions and experiences of the subject matter experts made the event an immense success.”

Stanley L. Straughter, chairman of the Mayor’s Commission on African & Caribbean Immigrant Affairs, offered that the seminar was in line with the Commission’s mission of educating and supporting local businesses with high quality technical assistance.

“They (the participants) found the session very educational and insightful, offering the kind of information that will allow them better access to the technical assistance they so badly need,” he noted.

Subject matter experts were drawn from the US Export Assistance Center, World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, US Customs & Border Protection, Western Union Business Solution, Small Business Administration, Wharton Small Business Development Center, Temple Small Business Development Center and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation.

The EX/IM Business Development initiative was a presentation of the Mayor’s Commission on African & Caribbean Immigrant Affairs Business and Trade Committee in conjunction with the MBDA Business Center of Pennsylvania (MBC-PA).