David De Falco is ITA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs. Natig Bakhishov is the Executive Director of the American-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce.
In November, nearly 200 countries will gather in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), bringing together global political and business leaders to forge agreements and advance cooperation to address the climate crisis, the greatest existential threat of the 21st century.
Every year, American businesses of all sizes and industries attend the Climate Conference to showcase the latest innovations in clean energy and technology from the U.S. Foreign buyers and investors are particularly looking to U.S. companies for products and services that can help their communities meet the challenges of climate change, from extreme weather resilience to sustainable development and clean energy transitions.
If you are a U.S. small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), don’t miss this great opportunity to attend COP29 in person to showcase your tools and services and expand your sales. Given the role of small and medium-sized businesses in the global economy (90% of businesses worldwide and 99.9% of businesses in the U.S.), they have tremendous potential to help solve the climate crisis. The International Trade Administration (ITA) will be at COP29 to help your business connect with trading partners from around the world. We recognize the challenges small businesses face in accessing capital, financing investments, and navigating foreign business environments, and we’re ready to help. With offices strategically located in more than 100 cities across the U.S. and 80 countries, we can help your business explore new markets for your products, find buyers, and support your success—especially if you’re new to exporting.
Take the example of our host country, Azerbaijan. Located at the global crossroads of East and West, Azerbaijan is committed to transitioning to the green technologies of the future. The economy of this country of 10 million people has historically been based on oil and gas production, but has a huge renewable energy potential that could reposition the country as a future supplier of green electricity and green hydrogen to the European market. To this end, ITA and our partners at the American-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce intend to work closely to promote the development of financing mechanisms specifically designed to help small and medium-sized American businesses. These mechanisms may include microfinance, grants, low-interest loans, long-term investment models, and understanding tax incentives and export basics.
If your company is interested in attending COP29, we encourage you to contact us today. We will help you understand opportunities both locally in Baku and in the lead-up to November. In fact, next month, ITA, the American-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center will host the COP29 Green Finance Summit to help SMEs understand the tools needed to promote green transformation. Stay tuned for more details on this event from the American-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce.
We hope to see you in Baku!
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.