WisBusiness: Foreign Trade Reps Share Tips at WIN Luncheon

By Brian E. Clark

WisBusiness.com

MADISON – The majority of China’s 1.3 billion people remains rural, but the country has a growing middle class of more than 150 million living mainly on the coast.

Wisconsin companies can tap into that market, but they need to be careful – especially when it comes to maintaining control over their intellectual property.

That was the message from Paul Swenson, who heads the Council of Great Lakes Governors’ China Trade Office in Shanghai.

Swenson – and three other commerce officials representing the Badger State in Japan, Mexico and Europe – shared their advice on doing business abroad at a Thursday luncheon sponsored by the Wisconsin Innovation Network.

According to Mary Regel, who heads the international division at the state Commerce Department, Wisconsin exports had a value of $14.9 billion last year, up 17 percent from 2004.

And Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, said for Wisconsin to thrive, Badger State companies must sell within Wisconsin, around the nation and abroad.

Swenson said biotech and medical device companies have opportunities in China because of its aging population has health problems.

He said the number of people with diabetes is growing because of changes in diet and that seven of 10 Chinese have hepatitis.

He warned that although China’s markets are beginning to mature and that its regulatory climate is improving, American companies must closely supervise their operations in order to stay in control.

Takahiro “Taka” Hagisako, who represents the Japan External Trade Organization, said his native country has emerged from recession.

“It is rebounding and in a growth mode,” said Hagisako, who has led trade missions from Wisconsin to Japan.

He said here were 464 biotech start-ups in Japan last year and that many of them are looking for partners.

“Now is a good time to begin relationships,” he said, noting that he had helped coordinate deals for NeoClone and Promega in Japan.

Marcos Hernandez, whose office is in Mexico City, used American football terminology to describe his work for Badger State firms.

“We are the offensive line,” he said. “We create holes and leads in the Mexico markets.”

Hernandez acknowledged that market in Mexico is generally not strong for high-tech firms, but he said some areas are bubbling.

His country, he noted, ordered nearly 880 robots last year, well behind the United States (12,117), but more than twice as many as Canada’s 440.

To do business in Mexico, he said, Wisconsin companies must also make personnel contacts with their Latin counterparts.

Carol Smith, whose office represents Wisconsin in Europe, said the emerging markets behind the former Iron Curtain offer great opportunities.

“They have hungry economies,” she said.

And while many new countries have joined the European Union, they still need to be approached locally because of differences in language, culture and laws.

“You have to pick and chose,” she said. “And to be honest, there are still remnants of the Iron Curtain over there.”

And while Western European economies are not growing rapidly, she said there are some openings in specific areas.

She said new environmental rules will force companies to invest in pollution control equipment, first in Western Europe and then in former Eastern Bloc countries.