Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09YAOUNDE586
2009-06-30 15:45:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Yaounde
Cable title:  

WHAT CRISIS? BUSINESS FORUMS REAP COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

Tags:  BEXP BTIO ECON ETRD KTDB CM 
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VZCZCXYZ0034
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHYD #0586/01 1811545
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301545Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0051
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
UNCLAS YAOUNDE 000586 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR USAID
DAKAR, JOHANNESBOURG, ABUJA AND NAIROBI PASS TO COMMERCE
STATE PASS TO EX-IM BANK AND OPIC
USDOC FOR ITA - BURRESS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BEXP BTIO ECON ETRD KTDB CM
SUBJECT: WHAT CRISIS? BUSINESS FORUMS REAP COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

UNCLAS YAOUNDE 000586

SIPDIS

STATE FOR USAID
DAKAR, JOHANNESBOURG, ABUJA AND NAIROBI PASS TO COMMERCE
STATE PASS TO EX-IM BANK AND OPIC
USDOC FOR ITA - BURRESS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BEXP BTIO ECON ETRD KTDB CM
SUBJECT: WHAT CRISIS? BUSINESS FORUMS REAP COMMERCIAL SUCCESS


1. (U) Summary. The global economic crisis took a back seat for
one week, as Embassy Yaounde's Commercial Team lead a delegation of
45 Cameroonian business leaders and government officials to
Washington for meetings with their American counterparts during the
week of May 4. The primary objective of Post's Business Forum
concept is to introduce Cameroonian business decision-makers, who
are traditionally oriented towards European markets, to the American
marketplace and the support various USG agencies offer for American
exports. The forum also lands immediate export successes--more than
$200,000 in May, mostly in hospitality services and vehicle sales.
It also generates promising opportunities, on trade and investment,
such as $40 million in potential sales for Caterpillar, $4 million
for Mack trucks, and another $4 million for passenger boat sales.
The forum plays an equally important but less quantifiable role in
fostering relationships between Cameroonian and American
communities; this last forum resulted in the signing of a sister
cities agreement between Prince George's County Maryland and the
Njikwa municipality in the North West Region of Cameroon. End
summary.

Bridging the Gap:
The Business Forum Concept
--------------


2. (U) Having accompanied Cameroonian delegations on a number of
the traditional U.S. Department of Commerce events, Post's
Commercial Specialists noticed that the Cameroonian participants
were often overwhelmed by the size and scope of the American market.
Additionally, the American companies participating in large trade
shows and expositions were less interested in the relatively small
and unknown Cameroonian market. Confident that bankable projects
were feasible under the right conditions, Post has developed the
concept of the targeted Business Forum, which has proved
increasingly popular and successful over the last nine iterations
held, alternately, in Chicago and Washington, D.C.


3. (U) The forum in Washington is called the Investment Forum on
Projects and Finance (IFPF) and the Chicago one is named the

Business and Technology forum. The Forums are tailored to clients'
needs; Post's Commercial Specialists catalogue the interests of each
Cameroonian participant and work with a U.S.-based consultant to
identify matching U.S. companies. The Forum invites U.S. government
agencies, including OPIC, USTDA and Ex-Im Bank, to explain their
services to the Cameroonian and American companies. In successive
iterations, the Business Forum concept has continued to evolve to
meet the changing needs of participants.

Money in the Bank:
Cars, Hotels and Other Sectors
--------------


3. (U) Embassy Yaounde's Commercial Team traditionally organizes
two forums each year. The last two forums -- in Chicago in November
2008 and in Washington in May 2009 -- brought more than 90 business
executives from Cameroon to the U.S. and resulted in more than 15
containers packed with used automobiles from the U.S. exported to
Cameroon, with estimated value of about $175,000. The U.S. used car
market has been an exciting discovery for Cameroonian car dealers,
who have been used to buying very old vehicles (15 years and older)
from Europe at higher prices. The Embassy's Business Forums have
fostered a significant shift towards automobiles from the U.S., with
trickle-down demand for American auto-parts manufacturers and
distributors. The May 2009 Forum resulted in more than $200,000 in
immediate revenues for American companies, for everything from hotel
rooms and transport to consulting services and retail sales.

In the Medium Term:
Promising Business Prospects
--------------


4. (U) More significant than the immediate retail sales, the
Forums also generate promising long-term deals:

--The Forum included a delegation of Cameroonian mayors, who are
negotiating the purchase of 140 pieces of Caterpillar equipment and
60 new Mack dump trucks for road construction;

--Cameroonian transportation company COMATRANS, which operates
passenger ferries between Cameroon and Nigeria, is negotiating the
purchase of a passenger vessel worth $1.2 million for clients in the
oil industry;

--The Cameroonian Ministry of Health is discussing the purchase of a
mobile dental clinic and four ambulances from the U.S., with a total
value of around $400,000;

--Two Cameroonian companies, Eshcol Mortgage and Real Estate Company
and Blaz Design Management and Investment Corporation presented
their concept of the American City Project to American companies
participating in the forum. The first phase of the project consists
of 300 houses to be constructed in the Yaounde neighborhood of
Mimboman in 2010. The developers plan to use 80% U.S. materials,
with financing arranged through Ex-Im Bank. Eschol also concluded a
partnership with Prince George's County whereby Eschol will lease
office space to market housing to the Cameroonian Diaspora;

--Garanti Express, a Cameroonian transport company, is finalizing a
deal with MCA, a U.S. bus manufacturer, whereby Garanti Express will
import buses and parts directly from MCA or an established
dealership. Garanti Express has placed an initial order for two new
MCA buses.

Building Lasting Relationships:
Sister City and Partnership Agreements
--------------


5. (U) In addition to the immediate and medium-term business
prospects, the Business Forums provide an opportunity to foster
long-term ties between American and Cameroonian communities:

--The 2009 Business forum included an event at the residence of the
Cameroonian Ambassador to the U.S. to celebrate a sister city
agreement between Prince George's County and the Njikwa municipality
in the North West Region of Cameroon, historically the source of the
greatest Cameroonian immigration to the U.S. The agreement will
involve student exchange programs and assistance for health,
education, and project development. In the fall of 2009, the county
will host a fundraiser golf tournament with all profits going
towards the Sister City partnership.

--The Cameroon Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Craft signed
a Memorandum of Understanding with the Prince George's County
Economic Development Corporation/Africa Trade Office. The agreement
aims to develop joint ventures in trade and business development and
training programs focused on fostering trade between Cameroon and
Prince George's County;

--CAMWATER (Cameroon's water utility company) and Washington
Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC),which provides water services
in Maryland's Montgomery and Prince George's counties, agreed to
establish a technical partnership. WSSC committed to providing
CAMWATER with training, a list of WSSC's vendors, and a review and
feedback of CAMWATER's projects. CAMWATER will provide WSSC with
its list of required equipment for existing projects.

Comment: Immediate Export Successes
While Building Long-Term Relationships
--------------


6. (U) The Business Forums result in immediate export success in
products as diverse as personal vehicles and passenger boats, but
their most valuable output may very well be the cultivation of
long-term relationships between American businesses and their
Cameroonian counterparts, who are increasingly turning to the U.S.
in search of alternatives to the traditional commercial
relationships with French companies. "Brand USA" is tremendously
popular in Cameroon, but Cameroonian entrepreneurs are intimidated
by the size of the American market, and traditional commercial
products (including IBPs) do not go far enough to help Cameroonians
tap into appropriate opportunities. The Business Forum bridges this
gap, identifying partners, like Prince George's County's Economic
Development Corporation office, that are ideally suited, in size and
interest, to match up with Cameroonians companies. End comment.