Riverside County Office of Economic Development is a Proud Sponsor of the 29th Annual Inland Empire World Trade Conference presented by the San Bernardino International Airport in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, and the California Inland Empire District Export Council (CIEDEC). In 2021, The Inland Empire Metro Area accounted for more than $11 Billion in goods exports.

This year's conference will focus on challenges and solutions for doing business in the Indo-Pacific Regions:

• Foreign policy
• Opening New Markets Overseas for U.S Exporters
• Supply Chain Solutions

For more information about the 2023 Inland Empire World Trade Conference and to get tickets:
GET TICKETS HERE

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Date and Time:
Wednesday, May 3 | 8 - 11:30am PDT

Location:
Event Center at Bear Springs Hotel:
27959 Highland Avenue Highland, CA 92346

The San Bernardino International Airport, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, and the California Inland Empire District Export Council (CIEDEC) proudly presents the 29th Annual Inland Empire World Trade Conference.

This year's conference will focus on challenges and solutions for doing business in the Indo-Pacific Regions:

• Foreign policy
• Opening New Markets Overseas for U.S Exporters
• Supply Chain Solutions

Who should attend?

Current or future exporters who want to learn more about global trade.

• Sales and marketing professionals responsible for understanding global market trends
• Operations and logistics professionals responsible for identifying new ways of streamlining global operations
• Senior-level executives and strategists responsible for positioning their companies to respond quickly to global trends and opportunities
• Investors and professional advisors who are representing exporters

PANELISTS

Dr. The Hon. Peter S Watson

President & CEO | The Dwight Group

Former President & CEO | OPIC

Peter is President & CEO of The Dwight Group, the D.C.- based investment bank, serving earlier as President & CEO of the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Prior to his OPIC appointment, Dr. Watson served under President William J. Clinton as Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission. In addition to his five years on the Commission, Peter served at the White House as Director of Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, and as Senior Advisor to Armitage Associates, LLC.

Peter’s academic service includes appointment to the Board of Visitors for the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, and as Visiting Professor at St. Peter’s College, Oxford University, at its Annual International Business Program. Other appointments have included Distinguished Lecturer in the adjunct faculty of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

Peter has been a long-term co-chair of the American Bar Association's Senior International Appointment’s Committee, and holds L.L.M. and Doctoral degrees in International Economic Relations from McGill University, and an L.L.B. from Auckland University Law School. He also holds an MBA in International Business. He is a recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars Award for Public Service.

Peter’s public service includes appointment to the U.S. Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, and selection by His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi to the Scientific Advisory Board of the Ras Al Khaimah Centre for Advanced Materials.

Peter has published over 50 articles on international business and trade policy, including a focus on NAFTA. He is the author of The Economic Arsenal in the War Against Terror, principal author of Completing the World Trading System: Proposals for a Millennium Round, and is co-author of CSIS’s National Conformity Assessment Schemes: Non-Tariff Trade Barriers in Information Technology. On January 1, 2002, Dr. Watson was awarded Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM), by Queen Elizabeth II, and on January 1, 2012, she awarded him Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM). He is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Kavia Kusum

Co-Founder & CEO | Combustion Associates Inc. (CAI)

Born in Kenya and educated in the United Kingdom, Ms. Kusum Kavia is the entrepreneurial spirit behind CAI’s success. A dynamic leader, she has been instrumental in building the company from a humble start-up to a model woman-owned, minority business with a stellar reputation.

CAI provides custom engineering and manufacturing solutions to the Energy, Process and Environmental industries worldwide. CAI’s products are engineered, manufactured, and tested at its facility in Corona, California. In the Energy Division, CAI provides modular power generation systems that operate 24/7 and are used for on-site prime power and micro-grid applications. CAI also provides systems integration of combined heat and power plants.

Over the Company’s 30+ years’ history, Ms. Kavia, and company co-founder Mukund Kavia,

have significantly expanded CAI’s exports to Africa delivering products and engineering services to several countries in the SSA region. The Company has provided “turn-key” solutions to its clients in Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Cameroon, Canada, China, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Japan and the U.S.

Ms. Kavia leads strategic business development at CAI. Under her extraordinary steering, CAI’s exports have increased significantly to now account for more than 40 percent of the company’s total sales. Former U.S. President Barack Obama himself singled-out Ms. Kavia’s and CAI’s export contribution to Africa at the U.S.-Africa Business Leaders Summit in 2014. President Obama’s Speech.

Ms. Kavia has served on several regional, state and federal government advisory committees and won numerous prestigious awards, the latest being the 2021 Outstanding Exporter Award presented by NASBITE (National Association of Small Business International Trade Educators).

https://cai3.com/

Our Sponsors

Please visit our sponsors' websites:

• San Bernardino International Airport
• US Commerical Service
• UAS Center at SBD
• ExIm20/20
• Discover IE
• Temecula Valley Entrepreneur's Exchange
• Riverside County Office of Economic Development