THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505030454
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ROANOKE LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
The state's promoter of trade with Mexico urged Virginia business representatives Monday to go south of the border now to make deals - while others are scared off by the monetary crisis.
``I wouldn't fund any deals now, but now is the time to be down there,'' said Charles Jumet, North American Free Trade Agreement Director with the Virginia Department of Economic Development.
``When times are tough and many are cutting and running, it's good to see someone down there who believes in you,'' Jumet said.
Virginia shipped about $120 million worth of goods to Mexico in 1993, and Jumet said the trade has steadily increased since then.
Linda Ford of the Virginia Port Authority said Lykes Lines Inc., which has weekly cargo service to Mexico, has more than tripled the tonnage shipped from Hampton Roads to Veracruz since 1992. Virginia is the only Mid-Atlantic state that offers direct cargo shipping to Veracruz, she added.
``That's Virginia's niche, the waterborne service,'' Jumet said at a conference sponsored by Virginia Tech.
Seventy-five representatives of Virginia businesses and about 25 representatives from eight Latin American countries are attending the three-day Global Opportunities Conference at the Hotel Roanoke.
Jumet said the net impact of NAFTA, in effect more than a year now, has been good for Virginia. There have been few claims for assistance made by companies that lost business and several major contracts with Virginia companies in the past year, he said.
Brenco of Petersburg secured a $1 million contract from the Mexican National Railway. Ericsson-GE in Lynchburg booked a $1 million order for secure, personal communications devices from the Mexico City Federal District Police and Sentinel Systems of Tidewater entered into a five-year contract to sell $25.5 million of home security systems in Mexico. by CNB