State seeks trade
center operator

It would turn over rights to
the name 'World Trade Center,'
which it has held since 1993

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

The state is looking for someone to set up and run a world trade center in Honolulu to promote international business.

The Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism bought the trade name World Trade Center in 1993 and now wants to activate it, setting a Dec. 8 deadline for submitting proposals.

The idea is to set up a membership organization, enlisting the support of traders and trade-related businesses and concentrating them in one building.

Seiji Naya, DBEDT director, said yesterday that a couple of groups have expressed interest. He said DBEDT has used the World Trade Center name a few times in its business development activities and he hopes it can be successfully handed over to the private sector.

That might not be so easy to achieve, said Stanley Hong, president and chief executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. "We'd be delighted" if someone can do it, said Hong, who has looked into the proposal and talked it over with Naya.

"Most cities that do lots of international business have one," Hong said. "It's kind of a symbol of the fact that that city or state or area is very much involved in international business."

But the state's franchise from the World Trade Centers Association in New York sets a lot of conditions, he said. For example, the operator would have to select a building that already has a concentration of international trade businesses.

DBEDT, hoping for a response anyway, listed some conditions in a solicitation document available from its administrative service office on the fifth floor of No. 1 Capitol District Building at 250 S. Hotel St.

The bidder would have to employ at least four people and have a site of at least 40,000 square feet that is at least 50 percent leased to firms involved in international trade or services.

The operator also would have to take over paying the WTCA franchise fee of $10,000 a year. The state would retain the franchise, however, but offer a subfranchise and DBEDT also wants a share of whatever fees the new center brings in from conducting seminars and other activities or selling the World Trade Center logo.

Although the Chamber of Commerce is a leading champion of international trade, it couldn't operate such an organization itself because of its nonprofit status, Hong said. But it will be happy to provide advice and support, he said.