Latin American Countries and Cal State Hayward Are Partners in New Chamber of International Business

The American partner in a new Latin American consortium that will conduct trade missions, research projects and educational exchanges between five countries is California State University, Hayward.

The university, which offers graduate business degrees around the world, will join agencies from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico in the Chamber of International Business, known as CAMBRA, launched in Brazil Dec. 4.

New trade pacts between the U.S. and some of these countries and anticipated ratification of the Free Trade of the Americas agreements by 34 North and South American countries put the new organization on the cutting edge of international commerce, according to CAMBRA director Pedro Kraus.

"Cal State Hayward will be one of our most important members," said Kraus. "We expect it to be especially active in market research consulting programs for local companies worldwide."

Kraus is a professor of international business at Central University of Jaraguá do Sul, known as UNERJ, which is a partner. Other members are the Institute of Technology in Monterrey, Mexico; export associations in Argentina and Chile; and the chamber of commerce in Jaraguá do Sul.

"The state of Santa Catarina is at a point now where its companies are ready to make a bigger push into international markets and encourage foreign companies to invest here," Kraus said. "CAMBRA will provide services to help make that happen."

The organization also will conduct international trade fairs, organize trade missions, assist with negotiations and advise on work force training opportunities.

The base for will be the city of Jaraguá do Sul in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. It is a city of 111,000, with industrial clusters producing electric motors, food products, textiles and furniture. In the past two years Cal State Hayward participants in the Transnational Executive MBA program, known as TEMBA, have prepared studies for clients in those sectors, demonstrating how to introduce specific products into the U.S. market.

Clients for TEMBA in Brazil and Chile include textile mills, agribusiness cooperatives, and companies producing furniture, plumbing fixtures, clothing, shoes, doors, and processed food. One TEMBA team is working with the Santa Catarina office of tourism and another is helping a Brazilian client enter the French and German markets. Other potential clients continue to come forward.

Inauguration

Hundreds attended the Dec. 4 inaugural CAMBRA event in Jaraguá do Sul, where official agreements were signed by members of the new international chamber.

Signing for Cal State Hayward was James Kelly, associate vice president for Continuing and International Programs.

"This is a most exciting new venture for us," Kelly told the audience. "With the highest percentage of international students of any of the 23 California State University campuses, and graduate business programs all over the world, this is a perfect time and place for us to be involved in this effort."

Cal State Hayward has executive MBA programs in Hong Kong, Singapore, Moscow and Graz, Austria. The university is considering opening programs in 2004 in Florianopolis, Brazil and in Shanghai.

"We have the most unique College of Business and Economics in the United States," Kelly said. "Just a week ago I was at a ceremony for 65 graduates of our program in Singapore and today I'm in southern Brazil. Earlier this year I was at the celebration of our 10th year in Moscow, where we have 600 alumni. We clearly are the right partner for the countries and agencies involved with CAMBRA."

Nineteen Cal State Hayward TEMBA students and their professors also were on hand at the inaugural event. They arrived a day earlier from Santiago, Chile, where two of their teams were working with a pair of export associations that want to introduce agricultural and industrial products into the U.S. In Brazil, three TEMBA teams met with companies who also want to move into the American market. The teams also had four days of presentations on how to do business in South America from UNERJ professors.

The TEMBA program enrolls mid-career and senior executives in the U.S. who participate in a 13-month series of global class modules. It is a self-supporting program, funded by student and client fees.

"CAMBRA is a good way to take advantage of all the resources you've got in the region; the universities, the exporters and the government agencies," said Alvaro Espinosa, a TEMBA participant and international sales manager at Saria International in San Carlos, Calif. Espinosa has previously done business in Santa Catarina, arranging for air compressors to be shipped to Saudi Arabia.

Homecoming

One of the most popular figures at the inaugural CAMBRA event was TEMBA participant Iris Ferreira, president of a contracting company with FedEx Services Inc. in Burlingame, Calif., and formerly a manager at several Brazilian companies. Reporters from Portuguese-language newspapers and television stations asked why a native Brazilian would return to help Brazilian companies succeed in the international market.

"The reporters especially were interested in knowing why I went to the United States to learn how to export products from Brazil," said Ferreira, who left his family's farm in the Brazilian state of Goias six years ago to work in the U.S. "I told them that I felt I could achieve more of my dreams in America. And now that I'm in the TEMBA program, I'm helping my country achieve more as well."

Ferreira now speaks fluent English and is on a TEMBA consulting team working with leaders of the state tourism agency on how to get more Americans to vacation in Santa Catarina.

Cal State Hayward's connections in Santa Catarina began in 1998 when Central University of Jaraguá do Sul began expansion of its international relations program.

"We worked with professor Kraus and professor Martin Desmaras to develop a series of product introduction studies by TEMBA students for companies in Santa Catarina," said Shyam Kamath, Cal State Hayward professor, international trade economist, and director of the TEMBA program. "It was a perfect fit, and the CAMBRA connection assures we'll be working together for a long time to come."

For more information about CAMBRA
Camara de Negocios Internacionais
Rua Jorge Czernewicz100, Barrio Czernewicz
89255-000, Jaraguá do Sul, SC, Brasil
www.portalcambra.com.br

For more information about TEMBA
Transnational Executive MBA Program
California State University, Hayward
25800 Carlos Bee Blvd.
Hayward, CA. 94542
(510) 885-2932
www.tembaglobal.com

Media Contact: Kim Huggett, Director of Public Affairs, (510) 885-2032