[ INSIDE HAWAII INC. ]
DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Paul Tambakis, director of the Hawaii Export Assistance Center, keeps in touch with 157 offices worldwide from his desk at the Honolulu Foreign Trade Zone.
Paul Tambakis wants to
help Hawaii firms exportWhat brought you to Hawaii?
Paul Tambakis
>> Community post: Executive secretary of the Hawaii District Export Council. Members are appointed by the U.S. secretary of commerce. They work with the Commerce Department's Export Advisory Office to educate and facilitate exporting by Hawaii companies.>> Day job: Director of the Hawaii Export Assistance Center
>> Background: Member of the commercial service tourism team, which is responsible for promoting in-bound tourism in the United States; former director of the Southern California Region for the Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration; former director of the Orange County Export Assistance Center; awarded two bronze medals by the secretary of commerce for outstanding delivery of export services to the business community; graduate of the Executive Development Institute for Tourism at the University of Hawaii's School of Travel Industry Management.
>> For export help: Visit export.gov or call the center at 522-8040
I've been interested in this position for two or three years now. Last summer I participated in the executive development program at the Travel Industry Management school at the University of Hawaii. I have very strong interests in promoting tourism into the United States, including Hawaii. Also this gave me the opportunity to do something again which I really enjoy, which is to work one-on-one with small business in helping them export overseas. My position in Southern California was a management post, now I get to do the fun part of the job again, which is working with businesses. Also, when I was in California I had the opportunity to open up an export assistance center on Native American land in Indio, they are a sovereign nation. It was the first partnership of its kind. I really enjoyed working with the Native Americans. We have good programs in the Department of Commerce for minority businesses. I would like to be able to bring similar programs here to work with the indigenous people of Hawaii and the Pacific Islands since the U.S. trust territories are part of my area.
What is the mission of the Hawaii Export Assistance Center?
We are basically a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce and our mission is to, through a worldwide network that we have, help small businesses be successful in selling their goods and services in global markets. When we can help our companies sell overseas that's a positive for our economy and it's a good thing. The growth is in small business exports, firms with 20 to 30 employees, and Hawaii certainly has a lot of businesses in that size range. We feel very strongly that Hawaii has tremendous potential to be even more successful in global markets.
If you had to pick one piece of advice for a prospective exporter, what would that be?
It's essential that you do your homework and pick the best overseas partner to work with; and you do the market research to make sure your product is going to be successful in your prospective market. We have 157 offices overseas in 84 countries that can help.
Are there any surprise pitfalls new exporters may encounter?
Not understanding how to get paid for an overseas transaction can be a pitfall. Using open account system when there are other options, such as letters of credit. It's important to have a good relationship with your international banker. The Export Import Bank of the United States does have insurance available for firms that do want to sell overseas on an open account basis. The best Web site for firms looking to export is export.gov.
What do you see as the most promising markets for Hawaii goods?
I'm getting very excited about everything that I'm hearing about opportunities in China. I was just meeting today with a company that is working on getting involved in the planning and administration of hospitals in China. And in our meeting with the governor last week, we talked about the opportunities in Hawaii for the captive insurance industry. I know the state has been working with our embassy in Tokyo to set up more captive insurance companies in Hawaii. I also see the education and training sector to be a huge opportunity.
You are also interested in importing more tourists to the state. What are your ideas in that regard?
Several of our embassies have Visit USA committees and we participate in many trade fairs oversees. We want to partner with the tourism organizations in Hawaii to see what our appropriate role would be to help them get as much exposure overseas as possible. We also have in our embassies commercial specialists, foreign nationals in the country, who are experts in different industries and we have tourism specialists who can arrange meetings with overseas tour operators or other companies. We basically do matchmaking to help find overseas partners.
Inside Hawaii Inc. is a conversation with a member of the Hawaii business community who has changed jobs, been elected to a board or been recognized for accomplishments. Send questions and comments to business@starbulletin.com.
