Yesterday, Acting Secretary Blank met with a group of Brazilian CEOs to hear their priorities for doing business with the U.S. and to propose possible areas for close collaboration with American businesses. One area in which U.S. and Brazilian firms can work together is on infrastructure development, which is one reason why Acting Secretary Blank is currently leading a trade mission of 20 U.S. firms in a wide range of infrastructure industry sectors to Brazil, Colombia and Panama. These companies offer everything from cutting-edge technologies to top-notch services in engineering, management consulting, and more -- and they are well equipped to help Brazil meet its robust goals for infrastructure improvements.

Acting Secretary Blank emphasized the importance of a strong bilateral investment relationship -- many global manufacturers, including some in Brazil, are now looking to return manufacturing operations to the U.S., to expand operations here, or to invest in the U.S. for the first time. That´s because there are a host of factors that make America a very attractive place to do business: low domestic energy costs and a stable supply of energy, high labor productivity, strong research institutions that can serve as partners in developing new products, intellectual property protections, and a stable business investment environment.

Foreign-based companies that invest directly in the U.S.economy create high-quality, well-paid jobs for American workers by building new facilities, provide for research and development and growing warehouses, sales offices and service centers. That is why the Obama Administration launched a new program in 2011, housed at the Department of Commerce, to increase investment in America: SelectUSA. This fall, SelectUSA will lead the first-ever “Investment Summit,” in Washington, DC from October 31 to November 1, which Acting Secretary Blank encouraged the Brazilian CEOs to attend in order to gain insights on how to start or expand operations in the United States. This Investment Summit will bring together international companies and U.S. economic development leaders from many states and communities to highlight the numerous and increasingly-attractive benefits of investing in the United States.

SelectUSA provides information assistance to the global investment community, serves as an ombudsman for investors, and advocates for U.S. cities, states, and regions competing for global investment. It serves as a single point of contact at the federal level for investors and economic development organizations to provide counseling on investment attraction strategy, how to start a business, access federal resources, and/or navigating U.S. Government regulations.