The virtual trade mission

Business America, May, 1997 by Cristina E. Temboury, Shawn A. Covell, Noel Gould

During the 1996-1997 school year, the private sector leadership of the President's Export Council (PEC) sponsored the Virtual Trade Mission Pilot Program for high school and college students as part of a new communications strategy for the PEC to increase public awareness of the importance of America's export economy and the need for a bipartisan public-private strategy to meet the challenges of the global marketplace.

The Virtual Trade Mission (VTM) was produced by a consortium of major American companies, small businesses, educational organizations, employee associations and think tanks. Since the program was officially announced in September 1996 by Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor in Washington, D.C., the Virtual Trade Mission has been presented to students in 12 Pilot Schools across the country.

The purpose of the Virtual Trade Mission Pilot Program is to provide participating students a multimedia introduction to the Big Emerging Markets and the opportunities they present for America's businesses and entrepreneurs to develop export sales and, thereby, to support America's economic growth. Just as important, the Virtual Trade Mission proposes that the best way for America's companies and workers to secure the potential advantages of the Big Emerging Markets is for the public and private sectors to join together in a Team America approach to export advocacy and market-making programs. Globally competitive skill development programs for employees, new "world markets" school curriculums for students, fair trade advocacy by our government -- it's all part of the Team America strategy.

Participating Sponsors of the Virtual Trade Mission include: General Electric, Boeing, MCI Communications, Hughes Electronics, Fluor Daniel Corporation, Culligan Water Technologies, Aquatics Unlimited, Raytheon, United Airlines, United Parcel Service, O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt Armoring Company, Autodesk, Maidenform, Texas Instruments, United Steelworkers of America, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the American Automobile Manufacturers Association, the U.S.-ASEAN Council for Business and Technology, Small Business Exporters Association, U.S. Olympic Committee President Dr. LeRoy Walker, and the Green Family Foundation.

The Virtual Trade Mission in the Classroom

The Virtual Trade Mission is a four-day multimedia intensive classroom experience. The Virtual Trade Mission staff travels to each school and carries out the program with a randomly selected group of approximately 30 students. Located in the library, the Virtual Trade Mission classroom is decorated with host country flags, maps, cultural reviews, local newspapers and Web Sites to give students the sense of being in a trade mission environment. The use of large-screen video monitors, CD-ROMs, computers and the Internet further sets the stage for this virtual trade mission. As would any CEO of a company going on a trade mission to another country, the students have a daily itinerary which includes visiting new countries, being introduced to new economies, and meeting business, country and government representatives and U.S. Olympic athletes along the way. Here's a look:

Day One

After the students are given an overview of the President's Export Council and an explanation of trade missions and the National Export Strategy, students are shown ExREports. ExREports are Corporate Videos which present American companies successfully exporting to the Big Emerging Markets and what that means for both the U.S. economy and future job opportunities for students. The ExREports are produced specifically for the Virtual Trade Mission by General Electric, Boeing, United Parcel Service, Aquatics Unlimited, MCI Communications, Fluor Daniel and the O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt Armoring Company. Students then have the opportunity to meet a corporate representative from one of the ExREport companies. These guest speakers share with students knowledge about their company, how it markets internationally, and the types of skills the company looks for in a potential employee. Students have the opportunity to ask these guest speakers about strategic partnerships, joint ventures and globalization.

Day Two

On the second day of their Trade Mission, students visit the emerging markets of Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Argentina, Indonesia, South Africa, Chile and Hungary via specially produced Country Reports. Country Report videos present to students some of the Big Emerging Market economies, their people, cultures, business opportunities and strategic importance to the United States.

Representatives from the consulates and embassies of Singapore, Hungary, South Africa, Chile, Mexico and other countries visit the classroom and give students a firsthand report about their country. Students are able to ask questions about cultures and economies they have had little contact with previously.

A "Welcome to the Internet" segment of Day Two is devoted to what has been a favorite with Virtual Trade Mission students: a preview of MCI's Virtual Trade Mission Web Site located at www.virtualtrademission.org. The Virtual Trade Mission Web Site provides students a road map to the Big Emerging Markets, VTM Sponsor Organizations, Export Challenge Workbook Exercises, Trade Trivia and participating VTM Pilot Schools. For the majority of students who surfed the VTM Web Site, this was the first time they ever logged onto the Internet!