Washington — U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker offered an enthusiastic welcome to the United States for international investors January 8 and encouraged them to attend the second SelectUSA Investment Summit, which will take place in the Washington metro area March 23–24.
“In my first year as secretary, one of my proudest moments was welcoming international investors to the 2013 SelectUSA Investment Summit. Alongside President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, we made it clear that America is ‘Open for Business,’” Pritzker said in a Commerce Department blog post.
She said registration for the 2015 SelectUSA Investment Summit is “moving full speed ahead.”
“There has never been a better time to consider establishing or expanding operations in the United States, and it is clear that investors recognize the opportunities that America offers,” Pritzker said. She cited the attractive U.S. consumer market, a thriving culture of innovation and a talented workforce as major attractions. She also noted the U.S. economic recovery, which “is outshining others,” and said investors are increasingly confident.
Pritzker quoted A.T. Kearney’s 2014 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index, which said “the United States tops the index for the second year in a row,” with the highest net positive rating in the index’s 16-year history.
The 2015 SelectUSA Investment Summit aims to build on the success of the inaugural event, which connected investors from 60 countries with representatives from nearly every U.S. state and territory. At the 2015 summit, economic development organizations from across the United States will again gather to showcase investment opportunities to companies from around the world. The two-day summit will include many sessions with high-profile CEOs, breakout panels with practical tools for investors, one-on-one matchmaking meetings and pitches on the trade show floor.
The 2015 summit will be double the size of the first event, with new features that include a pre-summit SelectUSA Academy that will cover the basics for first-time investors. There will also be sessions on rural investment and infrastructure investment, as well as other new features such as robust online matchmaking and a more expansive trade show floor.
Companies that are interested in establishing operations in the United States — including reshoring and foreign investment — can learn more at the SelectUSA Summit website, and Priztzker said the SelectUSA team is standing by to help with investments at any time.
SelectUSA is a U.S. government–wide program, housed within the U.S. Department of Commerce, that facilitates investment into the United States.
