Comments for Business Beyond the Reef

Comment on Hawaii Paper Attacks APEC by Steve

Steve — Wed, 12 May 2010 19:47:41 +0000

Not a chance since the Advertiser’s editors are convinced that good news doesn’t sell newspapers. They did run my brief letter to the editor – nearly a week later, after the story was forgotten.

Comment on Hawaii Paper Attacks APEC by Hawaiian Shirt

Hawaiian Shirt — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:43:05 +0000

I noticed the headline, but not the buried line item. Like most everyone else. I think the HA should run a retraction, and if not, a clarification statement.

Comment on Is This Good Marketing? by Paul Brewbaker

Paul Brewbaker — Tue, 11 May 2010 01:09:41 +0000

Japanese arrivals total about half what they represented a decade ago, so it’s hard to believe marketing there has been incrementally productive. Dramatic demographic changes in Japan and emerging Asian destination alternatives provide serious challenge and competition. Aviation technology change has made it easier to go far, or near, but what has worked for Japan outbound hasn’t for Hawaii inbound (from Japan, or elsewhere abroad). Your conjecture about greater strategic opportunity in China, Korea, or Europe–relative to Japan–seems reasonable.

Comment on Contrary Winds by Steve

Steve — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:03:28 +0000

Thanks, Charlotte.

Comment on Contrary Winds by Charlotte

Charlotte — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:52:41 +0000

Nice one, Steve. Will send along to my brother in Texas wind research.

Comment on Don’t Make A Farmer Angry by Steve

Steve — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 20:13:54 +0000

We might have some more fights brewing, this time between unions. Did you see the reports that China is now GM’s #1 market? Does this mean United Auto Workers will oppose action to punish China for currency manipulation? If we apply punitive tariffs to U.S. imports from China, China could retaliate against all those GM sales, putting UAW jobs on the line. What’s a union gonna do?

Comment on Full Service Exporting by Steve

Steve — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:57:50 +0000

A friend who lives and works in Tokyo sent me the following comment by email:

“Yes, indeed, folks tend to really miss the mark on the critical importance of service exports. Our export surplus with Japan for 2009 will be about $17.5 billion, up from $15.5 in 2008.”

Comment on Now That’s a Real Show! by Steve

Steve — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:56:52 +0000

Time passes and CeBIT, though still a great show, is no longer as big as it once was. Old friend and former colleague George Ruffner, who runs the commercial section at the American Embassy in Berlin, tells me that CeBIT 2010 only had 4,000 exhibitors and 330,000 visitors. Still huge by Honolulu’s standards.

Comment on National Export Initiative by Steve

Steve — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:30:34 +0000

You’re right, John. I hadn’t realized the situation at ExIm was that dire, but I’m not surprised either. They seem to be using SBA to approve smaller transactions, but I don’t much about the workload that either agency has.

Comment on National Export Initiative by John Emens

John Emens — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:11:31 +0000

The NEI plans are ambitious, to say the least. What concerns me is that there is such a heavy emphasis on business development (328 new Commercial Service staff as one example) and lip service to the financing component. The bottleneck in the current system, without the additional CS resources, is Ex-Im and the SBA. Less than 35 underwriters at Ex-Im are engaged in approving roughly 10,000 transactions (authorizations, waivers and Special Buyer Credit Limits) annually – all manually. To add additional sales people without boosting underwriting staff is akin to UPS increasing their sales force, but neglecting to have the trucks and planes on hand to deliver the goods!