VZCZCXYZ0034
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHYD #0586/01 1811545
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301545Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0051
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS YAOUNDE 000586 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR USAID 
DAKAR, JOHANNESBOURG, ABUJA AND NAIROBI PASS TO COMMERCE 
STATE PASS TO EX-IM BANK AND OPIC 
USDOC FOR ITA - BURRESS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: BEXP BTIO ECON ETRD KTDB CM
SUBJECT: WHAT CRISIS? BUSINESS FORUMS REAP COMMERCIAL SUCCESS 
 
¶1.  (U)  Summary.  The global economic crisis took a back seat for 
one week, as Embassy Yaounde's Commercial Team lead a delegation of 
45 Cameroonian business leaders and government officials to 
Washington for meetings with their American counterparts during the 
week of May 4.  The primary objective of Post's Business Forum 
concept is to introduce Cameroonian business decision-makers, who 
are traditionally oriented towards European markets, to the American 
marketplace and the support various USG agencies offer for American 
exports.  The forum also lands immediate export successes--more than 
$200,000 in May, mostly in hospitality services and vehicle sales. 
It also generates promising opportunities, on trade and investment, 
such as $40 million in potential sales for Caterpillar, $4 million 
for Mack trucks, and another $4 million for passenger boat sales. 
The forum plays an equally important but less quantifiable role in 
fostering relationships between Cameroonian and American 
communities; this last forum resulted in the signing of a sister 
cities agreement between Prince George's County Maryland and the 
Njikwa municipality in the North West Region of Cameroon.  End 
summary. 
 
Bridging the Gap: 
The Business Forum Concept 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  Having accompanied Cameroonian delegations on a number of 
the traditional U.S. Department of Commerce events, Post's 
Commercial Specialists noticed that the Cameroonian participants 
were often overwhelmed by the size and scope of the American market. 
 Additionally, the American companies participating in large trade 
shows and expositions were less interested in the relatively small 
and unknown Cameroonian market.  Confident that bankable projects 
were feasible under the right conditions, Post has developed the 
concept of the targeted Business Forum, which has proved 
increasingly popular and successful over the last nine iterations 
held, alternately, in Chicago and Washington, D.C. 
 
¶3.  (U)  The forum in Washington is called the Investment Forum on 
Projects and Finance (IFPF) and the Chicago one is named the 
Business and Technology forum.  The Forums are tailored to clients' 
needs; Post's Commercial Specialists catalogue the interests of each 
Cameroonian participant and work with a U.S.-based consultant to 
identify matching U.S. companies.  The Forum invites U.S. government 
agencies, including OPIC, USTDA and Ex-Im Bank, to explain their 
services to the Cameroonian and American companies.  In successive 
iterations, the Business Forum concept has continued to evolve to 
meet the changing needs of participants. 
 
Money in the Bank: 
Cars, Hotels and Other Sectors 
------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (U)  Embassy Yaounde's Commercial Team traditionally organizes 
two forums each year.  The last two forums -- in Chicago in November 
2008 and in Washington in May 2009 -- brought more than 90 business 
executives from Cameroon to the U.S. and resulted in more than 15 
containers packed with used automobiles from the U.S. exported to 
Cameroon, with estimated value of about $175,000.  The U.S. used car 
market has been an exciting discovery for Cameroonian car dealers, 
who have been used to buying very old vehicles (15 years and older) 
from Europe at higher prices.   The Embassy's Business Forums have 
fostered a significant shift towards automobiles from the U.S., with 
trickle-down demand for American auto-parts manufacturers and 
distributors.  The May 2009 Forum resulted in more than $200,000 in 
immediate revenues for American companies, for everything from hotel 
rooms and transport to consulting services and retail sales. 
 
In the Medium Term: 
Promising Business Prospects 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U)  More significant than the immediate retail sales, the 
Forums also generate promising long-term deals: 
 
--The Forum included a delegation of Cameroonian mayors, who are 
negotiating the purchase of 140 pieces of Caterpillar equipment and 
60 new Mack dump trucks for road construction; 
 
--Cameroonian transportation company COMATRANS, which operates 
passenger ferries between Cameroon and Nigeria, is negotiating the 
purchase of a passenger vessel worth $1.2 million for clients in the 
oil industry; 
 
--The Cameroonian Ministry of Health is discussing the purchase of a 
mobile dental clinic and four ambulances from the U.S., with a total 
value of around $400,000; 
 
--Two Cameroonian companies, Eshcol Mortgage and Real Estate Company 
and Blaz Design Management and Investment Corporation presented 
their concept of the American City Project to American companies 
participating in the forum.  The first phase of the project consists 
of 300 houses to be constructed in the Yaounde neighborhood of 
Mimboman in 2010.  The developers plan to use 80% U.S. materials, 
with financing arranged through Ex-Im Bank.  Eschol also concluded a 
partnership with Prince George's County whereby Eschol will lease 
office space to market housing to the Cameroonian Diaspora; 
 
--Garanti Express, a Cameroonian transport company, is finalizing a 
deal with MCA, a U.S. bus manufacturer, whereby Garanti Express will 
import buses and parts directly from MCA or an established 
dealership. Garanti Express has placed an initial order for two new 
MCA buses. 
 
Building Lasting Relationships: 
Sister City and Partnership Agreements 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U)  In addition to the immediate and medium-term business 
prospects, the Business Forums provide an opportunity to foster 
long-term ties between American and Cameroonian communities: 
 
--The 2009 Business forum included an event at the residence of the 
Cameroonian Ambassador to the U.S. to celebrate a sister city 
agreement between Prince George's County and the Njikwa municipality 
in the North West Region of Cameroon, historically the source of the 
greatest Cameroonian immigration to the U.S.  The agreement will 
involve student exchange programs and assistance for health, 
education, and project development.  In the fall of 2009, the county 
will host a fundraiser golf tournament with all profits going 
towards the Sister City partnership. 
 
--The Cameroon Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Craft signed 
a Memorandum of Understanding with the Prince George's County 
Economic Development Corporation/Africa Trade Office. The agreement 
aims to develop joint ventures in trade and business development and 
training programs focused on fostering trade between Cameroon and 
Prince George's County; 
 
--CAMWATER (Cameroon's water utility company) and Washington 
Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), which provides water services 
in Maryland's Montgomery and Prince George's counties, agreed to 
establish a technical partnership. WSSC committed to providing 
CAMWATER with training, a list of WSSC's vendors, and a review and 
feedback of CAMWATER's projects.  CAMWATER will provide WSSC with 
its list of required equipment for existing projects. 
 
Comment: Immediate Export Successes 
While Building Long-Term Relationships 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U)  The Business Forums result in immediate export success in 
products as diverse as personal vehicles and passenger boats, but 
their most valuable output may very well be the cultivation of 
long-term relationships between American businesses and their 
Cameroonian counterparts, who are increasingly turning to the U.S. 
in search of alternatives to the traditional commercial 
relationships with French companies.  "Brand USA" is tremendously 
popular in Cameroon, but Cameroonian entrepreneurs are intimidated 
by the size of the American market, and traditional commercial 
products (including IBPs) do not go far enough to help Cameroonians 
tap into appropriate opportunities.  The Business Forum bridges this 
gap, identifying partners, like Prince George's County's Economic 
Development Corporation office, that are ideally suited, in size and 
interest, to match up with Cameroonians companies.  End comment.