Western foods provide big opportunities in China - Jamaica Gleaner

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

COURTNEY SPENCE, who describes himself as a partner in a growing restaurant business in China, says there is "a huge demand for Western foods" in that country and Jamaicans should seek to take advantage of such business opportunities.

Spence said yesterday that his restaurant serves up Jamaican and other Western foods to the palates of people in the Far East.

He was among scores of persons who attended a Doing Business with China forum staged jointly by the Jamaica-China Friendship Association and the Chinese Embassy at the Wyndham Kingston hotel in New Kingston.

He argued that foreigners in China have been craving for a taste other than that which Chinese food offers.

"With our spicy ingredients, it gives a better flavour for the Africans. When we opened the restaurants, a lot of Africans and Indians come there because we are offering the spicy food."

Spence also said Jamaican liquor is a hit in China, and so too is the island's national dish.

"They have sampled the ackee and the salt fish and they love it," he said.

He told The Gleaner that Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is popular in China, but claimed that there is a widespread practice of business people using the Blue Mountain name to market low-grade coffee there.

Spence also said there was tremendous opportunity for proof-readers and editors in China. He has encouraged Jamaicans to go to China and experience the business opportunities there and then seek to take advantage.

China is the world's second-largest economy after the United States. It is the world's fastest-growing major economy, with growth rates averaging 10 per cent over the past 30 years. The country is also the largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods in the world.

Spence said he was among the many people who saw the business opportunity in the Far East and sought to take advantage. He was in the business of buying used cameras in China and selling them in the Caribbean.

However, his entry into the restaurant business came by accident. He said that in 2000, during one of his regular business trips to China, he was swindled out of his money by Chinese businessmen.

"I lost everything, so I had to spend a year there. I taught English and during that year, because I did not like eating from the Chinese restaurants, I started doing my own cooking," Spence said.

"The local friends that I was with liked the cooking, so we started a partnership to do a restaurant. The restaurant grew. I then was drafted for politics in Jamaica and I had to return home."

Airport restaurant

Spence, who was at the time seeking to gain the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) nomination to contest South St Andrew in the 2002 election, said the restaurant business in China has grown. He said there are now six restaurants and that his business partners are seeking to start a Jamaican restaurant at the Shanghai Airport.

Fay Pickersgill, chairman of the Jamaica-China Friendship Association, said that body would be taking a delegation to China and has extended an invitation to Jamaicans to take advantage of the opportunity.

The dates for the trip are September 7 to 27. It will cost US$7,500 each for double occupancy and US$8,500 for single. The money will cover airfare, accommodation, inland travel, meals and attractions.

Liu Lei, a commercial councillor in the Chinese Embassy, said Jamaicans going to China to do business should recognise that the culture there is based on relationships.

"It is appropriate to bring a gift, particularly something representative of your firm or region to a business meeting or event. This will play an important part in your business relationship," she said.

She also said the senior personnel in organisations should be presented with gifts that are perceived to be of a higher value than those given to subordinates.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com

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Verizon Awards Buffalo's Everywoman Opportunity Center $100,000 Grant to Provide Entrepreneurship Training to Survivors of - Bloomberg

DJIA 12,411.23 -142.97 -1.14% Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

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Facebook Credits: New Economic Driver Will Provide New Business Opportunities in the Internet Economy

Facebook Credits will likely become a new economic driver in the Internet economy providing new business opportunities for entrepreneurs as Facebook begins to heavily promote Facebook Credits in various new ways as part of their strategy to support the price of their stock, says Wayne Beeson, an online marketing consultant who blogs on entrepreneurship and the Internet economy.

Draper, Utah (PRWEB) May 30, 2012

“Facebook Credits may soon become a new economic driver in the Internet economy, providing significant new business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs should start looking for innovative ways of integrating Facebook Credits into their business strategy because Facebook is likely going to be very supportive very soon,” says Wayne Beeson, online marketing consultant in his recent blog post.

Mr. Beeson explains in his recent post that Facebook is going to need new revenue streams to drive the price of its stock to meet investor expectations. Since Facebook has a mediocre reputation as an advertising platform, the company will likely begin to heavily promote Facebook Credits in various ways to increase revenue and profit. Mr. Beeson notes that some experts feel that Facebook Credits will surpass Facebook’s advertising revenue in the next three to five years.

Facebook Credits, as described on the “Credits” page of Facebook.com: “Just like tokens at an arcade or amusement park, credits are a secure way to play games and buy virtual and digital goods on Facebook. You can buy credits using your credit card, PayPal, mobile phone or another payment method.” The developers who create and sell virtual and digital goods on Facebook pay 30% of the sales price to Facebook, and retain 70% for themselves. Facebook Credits is a virtual currency and is available in well over a dozen currencies including U.S. dollars, pound sterling, euros, and Danish kroner. At the present time, ten Facebook credits equal 1USD.

Wayne Beeson is an online marketing consultant who selectively partners to develop business opportunities, and blogs on entrepreneurship and the Internet economy.

Wayne Beeson
Wayne Beeson Online Marketing Consulting
402-321-5207
Email Information

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Western Canadian Shipbuilding Summit to Provide Opportunities for Businesses Across Western Canada - msnbc.com

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — More than 400 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be connecting with new business opportunities being generated at the Western Canadian Shipbuilding Summit, to take place in Vancouver on May 23, 2012.

"Western Canada's Shipbuilding Action Plan is focussed on creating jobs, economic growth, and long-term prosperity in the West," said the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification. "Events like the upcoming Shipbuilding Summit are crucial in helping western Canadian businesses showcase their expertise and continue to grow."

The Summit is being hosted by Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) and Seaspan Marine Corporation, and will provide western Canadian SMEs an opportunity to meet with Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. and Irving Shipyards, who were selected to construct the non-combat and combat work packages respectively under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS).

Economic Action Plan 2012 highlighted Western Canada's Shipbuilding Action Plan, which will help western SMEs take advantage of the business opportunities presented by the NSPS. This event allows western SMEs to make valuable business connections in the shipbuilding industry and learn about specific shipbuilding projects.

For more information on the Western Canadian Shipbuilding Summit please visit WD's web site at www.wd-deo.gc.ca.

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Western Canadian Shipbuilding Summit to Provide Opportunities for Businesses Across Western Canada - Market Wire

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - May 9, 2012) - More than 400 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be connecting with new business opportunities being generated at the Western Canadian Shipbuilding Summit, to take place in Vancouver on May 23, 2012.

"Western Canada's Shipbuilding Action Plan is focussed on creating jobs, economic growth, and long-term prosperity in the West," said the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification. "Events like the upcoming Shipbuilding Summit are crucial in helping western Canadian businesses showcase their expertise and continue to grow."

The Summit is being hosted by Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) and Seaspan Marine Corporation, and will provide western Canadian SMEs an opportunity to meet with Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. and Irving Shipyards, who were selected to construct the non-combat and combat work packages respectively under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS).

Economic Action Plan 2012 highlighted Western Canada's Shipbuilding Action Plan, which will help western SMEs take advantage of the business opportunities presented by the NSPS. This event allows western SMEs to make valuable business connections in the shipbuilding industry and learn about specific shipbuilding projects.

For more information on the Western Canadian Shipbuilding Summit please visit WD's web site at www.wd-deo.gc.ca.

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Postal Service Cuts Provide New Revenue Opportunities For US Banks - Huffington Post

* Banks see an opening in calls to end Saturday deliveries

* Chance of slower mail argues for electronic payments

* Banks peddle check collection centers to clients

By David Henry and Rick Rothacker

March 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. bank industry, struggling to make the profits it used to, is using the struggles of another industry for its marketing: The U.S. Postal Service.

JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co are all using the looming threat of postal service cuts to sell bank services such as electronic payments and remittance pickups that can speed payments likely to be slowed by diminished mail service.

"It is a conversation starter," said Daniel Peltz, head of Wells Fargo's Treasury Management division.

For banks, electronic transactions save as much as one-third of the cost of processing checks, according to industry estimates. The potential savings are greatest for bigger banks, which reap additional economies of scale by running more transactions through the computer systems they have built.

Banks are looking for any chance to save money these days, as tough markets and a weak economy hit their profits, and traditional revenue streams dry up due to stricter regulations.

For bank customers, the new electronic payments and other services offer savings, too.

Greg Kerwick, a managing director in JPMorgan's Treasury Services unit, said his team is telling customers they might have to wait one to four days longer for invoices to reach customers and payments to return by mail, if Saturday postal delivery is eliminated.

His division, which helps 25,000 businesses with cash management, estimates that waiting an extra two days for payment would require a company that receives $5 billion of mail payments a year to come up with an extra $27 million of working capital.

To save that money, of course, customers must pay. For example, using lockbox services - where the bank picks up checks for businesses from postal plants seven days a week - can mean as much as $2 per check for the bank, which also can earn interest income during the maximum of three to four days they hold a payer's money before some checks are cleared, said Nancy Atkinson, a senior analyst with consulting firm Aite Group.

This "float period" could become even more valuable as interest rates rise in the future, she said.

Banks, however, may find it challenging to win more payment business because a delay in mail service is advantageous to bill payers who want to hold onto their funds as long as possible, Atkinson said. Payers typically drive the decision making around how they pay a supplier, surveys by Aite Group have found.

If more business turns to electronic payments, that could further hurt the Postal Service, which lost $5.1 billion in fiscal year 2011 and could see annual losses upward of $21 billion by 2016 if major changes are not made, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has said.

President Obama, in his budget proposal in February, called for an end to Saturday mail delivery and other cost-cutting by the Postal Service. The Senate is to consider a bill this week that would allow the Postal Service to consider ending Saturday mail after two years.

The service also has plans to close more than 200 mail processing plants, which would end next-day delivery of First Class Mail.

"Everybody has a desire to get away from checks and move more electronic," JPMorgan's Kerwick said. "This is placing greater urgency around making that happen."

"The mail will take longer to cycle through," Kerwick said.

To be sure, many mid-sized businesses use check-writing software and are in no rush to install new systems, said Lex Litton, a consultant with Phoenix-Hecht, which specializes in collecting paper checks at third-party processing centers.

A little more than half of payments received by larger companies still arrive by check, said Litton. For smaller companies about three-quarters are on paper.

Overall, paper payments to businesses are decreasing by a couple of percentage points a year, Litton said, citing surveys by his firm.

One reason for slow adoption is convenience. Sending checks in envelopes can allow businesses to easily add information that clarifies what they are paying and what discounts they might be applying.

"I'm an advocate of both" paper and electronic payments, said Ron Tauscher, a senior product manager in Citigroup's Global Transaction Services business.

Tauscher said he is discussing the Postal Service issues with Citigroup's customers. "It is clearly an opportunity to talk about their receivables," he said.

For payments still sent by check, some banks offer lockbox processing centers across the United States. Citigroup, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo together account for 35 of them. Crews from the centers go to nearby Postal Service sorting facilities around the clock to pick up envelopes with checks to be deposited quickly.

Known as remittance mail, the envelopes would get special treatment under the Postal Service's plans to cut costs, noted Litton. Banks would be able to continue to pick up those envelopes seven days a week even as first-class deliveries to businesses would become less frequent.

As a result, businesses may sign up for the lockbox services, Wells Fargo's Peltz said.

Litton said remittance mail would still likely move more slowly than today, though that is not certain. Regardless, the threat of delays is useful to the banks. "This looks like an opportunity to say there is one more advantage to electronic payments," said Litton.

At Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Paul Simpson, head of global transaction services, said the bank is talking to clients about electronic payment options as well as looking at new ways to enhance and speed up deposit and lockbox services. Depending on the postal service's consolidation plans, the bank could look at partnership opportunities at post office locations, where the bank could process checks and immediately capture electronic images of these payments.

A partnership with the U.S. Postal Service could help "create revenue streams that benefit both parties," Simpson said.

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Postal Service Cuts Provide New Revenue Opportunities For US Banks - Huffington Post

* Banks see an opening in calls to end Saturday deliveries

* Chance of slower mail argues for electronic payments

* Banks peddle check collection centers to clients

By David Henry and Rick Rothacker

March 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. bank industry, struggling to make the profits it used to, is using the struggles of another industry for its marketing: The U.S. Postal Service.

JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co are all using the looming threat of postal service cuts to sell bank services such as electronic payments and remittance pickups that can speed payments likely to be slowed by diminished mail service.

"It is a conversation starter," said Daniel Peltz, head of Wells Fargo's Treasury Management division.

For banks, electronic transactions save as much as one-third of the cost of processing checks, according to industry estimates. The potential savings are greatest for bigger banks, which reap additional economies of scale by running more transactions through the computer systems they have built.

Banks are looking for any chance to save money these days, as tough markets and a weak economy hit their profits, and traditional revenue streams dry up due to stricter regulations.

For bank customers, the new electronic payments and other services offer savings, too.

Greg Kerwick, a managing director in JPMorgan's Treasury Services unit, said his team is telling customers they might have to wait one to four days longer for invoices to reach customers and payments to return by mail, if Saturday postal delivery is eliminated.

His division, which helps 25,000 businesses with cash management, estimates that waiting an extra two days for payment would require a company that receives $5 billion of mail payments a year to come up with an extra $27 million of working capital.

To save that money, of course, customers must pay. For example, using lockbox services - where the bank picks up checks for businesses from postal plants seven days a week - can mean as much as $2 per check for the bank, which also can earn interest income during the maximum of three to four days they hold a payer's money before some checks are cleared, said Nancy Atkinson, a senior analyst with consulting firm Aite Group.

This "float period" could become even more valuable as interest rates rise in the future, she said.

Banks, however, may find it challenging to win more payment business because a delay in mail service is advantageous to bill payers who want to hold onto their funds as long as possible, Atkinson said. Payers typically drive the decision making around how they pay a supplier, surveys by Aite Group have found.

If more business turns to electronic payments, that could further hurt the Postal Service, which lost $5.1 billion in fiscal year 2011 and could see annual losses upward of $21 billion by 2016 if major changes are not made, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has said.

President Obama, in his budget proposal in February, called for an end to Saturday mail delivery and other cost-cutting by the Postal Service. The Senate is to consider a bill this week that would allow the Postal Service to consider ending Saturday mail after two years.

The service also has plans to close more than 200 mail processing plants, which would end next-day delivery of First Class Mail.

"Everybody has a desire to get away from checks and move more electronic," JPMorgan's Kerwick said. "This is placing greater urgency around making that happen."

"The mail will take longer to cycle through," Kerwick said.

To be sure, many mid-sized businesses use check-writing software and are in no rush to install new systems, said Lex Litton, a consultant with Phoenix-Hecht, which specializes in collecting paper checks at third-party processing centers.

A little more than half of payments received by larger companies still arrive by check, said Litton. For smaller companies about three-quarters are on paper.

Overall, paper payments to businesses are decreasing by a couple of percentage points a year, Litton said, citing surveys by his firm.

One reason for slow adoption is convenience. Sending checks in envelopes can allow businesses to easily add information that clarifies what they are paying and what discounts they might be applying.

"I'm an advocate of both" paper and electronic payments, said Ron Tauscher, a senior product manager in Citigroup's Global Transaction Services business.

Tauscher said he is discussing the Postal Service issues with Citigroup's customers. "It is clearly an opportunity to talk about their receivables," he said.

For payments still sent by check, some banks offer lockbox processing centers across the United States. Citigroup, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo together account for 35 of them. Crews from the centers go to nearby Postal Service sorting facilities around the clock to pick up envelopes with checks to be deposited quickly.

Known as remittance mail, the envelopes would get special treatment under the Postal Service's plans to cut costs, noted Litton. Banks would be able to continue to pick up those envelopes seven days a week even as first-class deliveries to businesses would become less frequent.

As a result, businesses may sign up for the lockbox services, Wells Fargo's Peltz said.

Litton said remittance mail would still likely move more slowly than today, though that is not certain. Regardless, the threat of delays is useful to the banks. "This looks like an opportunity to say there is one more advantage to electronic payments," said Litton.

At Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Paul Simpson, head of global transaction services, said the bank is talking to clients about electronic payment options as well as looking at new ways to enhance and speed up deposit and lockbox services. Depending on the postal service's consolidation plans, the bank could look at partnership opportunities at post office locations, where the bank could process checks and immediately capture electronic images of these payments.

A partnership with the U.S. Postal Service could help "create revenue streams that benefit both parties," Simpson said.

Also on HuffPost:

Get Alerts

View the original article here

Booming German smartphone sales provide plenty of mobile business opportunities … - TMCnet

(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) About 14.5 million smartphones were sold in 2011 in Germany, which almost doubles the sales of 2010, according to the data of the German high-tech association BITKOM. ComScore regards the German mobile market as one of the strongest in Europe, selecting it together with UK, France, Italy and Spain for its panel research. The Mobile National Day Breakfast London conference about the Mobile Personal Internet on March 27th 2012 will bring the German market and its key players to London and give insights into this growing market full of opportunities. http://mobile-national-days.com/london.html While smartphone sales in the German consumer market have been strong, sales of standard mobile phones dropped by 26 per cent to 10.8 million sold devices. Smartphones are taking the lead with a constant average price of about 354 Euro, while the average price of a normal mobile phone dropped by 33 per cent to 74 Euro. This catapults the smartphone's turnover to more than 5.1 billion Euro, an increase by almost 90 per cent, and shows at the same time the wide range of opportunities available in the mobile market. The Mobile National Day Breakfast London event will presents some highlights on the market and some business cases with breakfast: real food for thought! Over croissants and coffee, Franz Obermayer, Strategic Accounts Director of German mobile interaction specialist tyntec will illustrate how universal mobile services such as SMS, voice and mobile numbers still offer much room for growth across a wide variety of applications. How does the evolution of these universal services enabling many new applications and business models, particularly in the OTT field? The answers to this question will be brought to life with current examples from the mobile interaction specialist with a wide range of telecom services from enterprise mission-critical applications to internet services and over 500 business clients worldwide and a strong base in Germany. Tyntec is trusted by the integration of the mobile channel into their services and communications, driving revenues, creating cost savings and increasing brand loyalty.

The conference will also look at the efficiency of application marketing, shown with the business case example of Trademob by its CEO, Ravi Kamran. While it is still a usual practice to measure only clicks and downloads, these indicators are not the optimal indicators for the business side of an applications success. Far more important are post download conversions like registrations and in-app-purchases, which are mostly left in the dark. Trademob focuses these important indicators with its measurement service, while also using the strength of many different advertising networks to provide the best possible advertising reach. This comes in handy especially with special target group niches, which are usually hard to reach with a single advertising network. With its unique tracking and optimization capabilities, Trademob tracks and optimizes mobile advertising campaigns for mobile apps across all ad networks with regard to the relevant KPIs (clicks, downloads, iAPs, sign-ups etc) with services are trusted by young startups, established players and some of the most innovative spearheads in the mobile industry.

You can find further information about the Mobile National Days and the registration for the London congress at www.mobile-national-days.com Organizer Mobile National Days 11 Prozent Communication, located in Erding, Germany, has established itself as a neutral communication platform for brands, media and the mobile and digital entertainment worlds. The consulting agency provides companies with detailed and extensive information on the e-game and mobile markets. In addition, 11 Prozent organizes events (www.gfm-world.de, www.m-days.com, www.mobile-content-days.de), does PR work and is the publisher of GFM Nachrichten (www.gfm-nachrichten.de), a periodical dealing with mobile, eGames, IPTV and social media.

Press contact Inga Kozuruba Tel.: +49 (0) 8122 / 955 - 625, Fax: +49 (0) 8122 / 955 627 E-Mail: i.kozuruba@11prozent.de, Web: http://www.mobile-national-days.com Angelique Szameitat, 11 Prozent Communication Tel.: +49 (0) 8122 / 955 - 625, Fax: +49 (0) 8122 / 955 627 E-Mail: a.szameitat@11prozent.de, Web: http://www.mobile-national-days.com ((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com)).

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Opportunity International Gains Funding to Expand Technology and Training Programs, Provide Financial Tools to the World's Poorest Citizens - msnbc.com

OAK BROOK, IL — A vast number of families who live in the developing world will soon gain expanded access to the financial tools available through Opportunity International, due to a three-year grant from Credit Suisse's Microfinance Capacity Building Initiative.

The grant from Credit Suisse, which is part of an ongoing partnership, will enable Opportunity to continue to expand its use of mobile banks, point-of-sale (POS) devices and cell phone banking in the most remote areas of Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Colombia and other developing countries, bringing access to savings accounts and small business loans closer to where its clients live and work, and helping to reduce travel times and transportation costs.

Opportunity International will also use the three-year grant from Credit Suisse to fund its Next Generation Microfinance Bankers training program, which is designed to build a growing cadre of senior executives capable of establishing and operating successful banks for the poor in highly challenging environments in developing countries. Over the next five years, Opportunity will need to hire approximately 7,000 new staff to add to its current base of 12,000 staff, to meet growing demand for the portfolio of financial tools it provides to more than three million people working their way out of poverty around the globe. Through the Next Generation Microfinance Bankers Program, Opportunity will also develop comprehensive training programs for loan officers and customer service staff members.

"We are delighted that Credit Suisse continues to support Opportunity in expanding access to financial tools for the world's poorest citizens through the ongoing deployment of cutting-edge technologies, and now through our Next Generation Microfinance Bankers Program," said Dennis Ripley, Senior Vice President of International Business Development for Opportunity International. "Ours is a relationship-driven business where recruiting, hiring and retaining technologically-savvy staff who are committed to serving the very poor is critical to our success and creating jobs in the communities we serve around the globe."

As part of its partnership with Credit Suisse, Opportunity is also participating in the Credit Suisse Global Citizens Program (CGP), which provides opportunities for Credit Suisse employees to immerse themselves in local communities to support the work of its partner organizations in education and microfinance. Opportunity plans to place up to three Credit Suisse Global Citizens in its operations during the course of the grant.

Credit Suisse AG

Credit Suisse AG is one of the world's leading financial services providers and is part of the Credit Suisse group of companies (referred to here as 'Credit Suisse'). As an integrated bank, Credit Suisse offers clients its combined expertise in the areas of private banking, investment banking and asset management. Credit Suisse provides advisory services, comprehensive solutions and innovative products to companies, institutional clients and high-net-worth private clients globally, as well as to retail clients in Switzerland. Credit Suisse is headquartered in Zurich and operates in over 50 countries worldwide. The group employs approximately 50,700 people. The registered shares (CSGN) of Credit Suisse's parent company, Credit Suisse Group AG, are listed in Switzerland and, in the form of American Depositary Shares (CS), in New York. Further information about Credit Suisse can be found at www.credit-suisse.com.

Credit Suisse Microfinance Capacity Building Initiative

The Microfinance Capacity Building Initiative (MCBI) is Credit Suisse's grant and technical support initiative for microfinance institutions (MFIs). Launched in 2008, the MCBI aims to strengthen the microfinance industry, its institutions and their management. The Initiative provides financial and human resources to improve management training and development and to drive product and process innovation -- enabling organizations to meet their social and financial goals in an efficient and responsible manner. Our employees also contribute to this capacity building through our virtual and field volunteering efforts, such as the Global Citizens Program, in which they share their skills and knowledge directly with our partners in the field. For more information, visit https://www.credit-suisse.com/responsibility/en/initiatives/initiatives_microfinance.jsp.

About Opportunity International

Opportunity International provides access to savings accounts, small business loans, insurance and training to over three million people working their way out of poverty in the developing world. Clients in more than 20 countries use these financial services to start or expand a business, provide for their families, create jobs for their neighbors and build a safety net for the future. For more information, visit www.opportunity.org.

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Olympic summits to provide £1bn boost for British business - Fresh Business Thinking

By Marcus Leach

The 2012 Games are the greatest business networking event in the global calendar where companies from all over the world will come to London to meet, interact and do business.

To take full advantage of this unique opportunity to deliver a worthwhile and lasting business legacy across Great Britain, the Government will be hosting the biggest ever investment conference Britain has ever seen.

The bold and innovative programme, run by UK Trade and Investment, will enable international companies to come together and discuss both opportunities and the major issues affecting them and will, over time, generate more than £1 billion of additional revenue for British businesses.

The Government has developed an exciting Games time programme of networking opportunities, conferences, summits, seminars and face- to- face meetings for British and international businesses.

As the platform for showcasing international business partnerships and the best of British expertise and skill, the Olympics conference series is the key element of this programme running from the eve of the Games on July 26th to end of the Paralympics on September 7th.

"This summer's Olympics will put the eyes of the world on Britain as we host not just an unparalleled sporting spectacle, but also a chance for companies from across the globe to interact and do business here in the UK," Prime Minister David Cameron said.

"A wide range of British companies will be involved alongside the world's leading business figures in this exciting programme of events, putting the UK at the forefront of efforts to resolve the economic challenges that face us all.

"We are working hard to make sure the whole country can seize this once in a generation opportunity. We expect these events to generate at least £1bn for British businesses and they are vital to our efforts to secure a long-term return to... continued on page two >

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