The Department of State has recently launched two important initiatives in support of our Economic Statecraft agenda, the Direct Line and BusinessTab programs. Economic Statecraft focuses on elevating the role of economics and commercial work in accomplishing our foreign policy agenda and these initiatives are aimed at supporting American business and job creation in the US.
The Direct Line program provides a unique opportunity for American businesses, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises, to engage directly via teleconference with U.S. Ambassadors overseas. The program is open to American companies already operating in the country where the Ambassador serves, or that are interested in expanding their businesses into those countries. There is a calendar of calls at www.state.gov/e/eb/directline and we encourage businesses to sign up for alerts. Over 500 participants have joined calls to date across 18 different markets including China, Indonesia, and Turkey.
The BusinessTab is another key feature to improve the American business community’s access to relevant information on U.S. Embassy websites. There are now standard businesss navigation tabs on all U.S. Embassy websites making it easy to access business resources for export and investment.
The SBA Resource Partners’ unparalleled ability to reach out to domestic markets will broaden our domestic outreach efforts for Direct Line and BusinessTab to SME’s. We are asking for your help to reach out to more U.S. businesses to inform them that both Direct Line and Business Tab are available as tools for the American business community.
Lorraine Hariton
Special Representative
Office of Commercial and Business Affairs
U.S. Department of State