​On June 22nd WTCGP Board Chairman Gary Biehn and President Linda Conlin welcomed Director-General Wang and her delegation from Tianjin China to a roundtable discussion at White and Williams, LLC,  to meet with WTCGP members and partners. The delegation also visited with Robin Grieving, Program Coordinator, International Medicine, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia for a tour and luncheon. The day ended at University City Science Center for a briefing by the City of Philadelphia, Citizens Diplomacy International and the University City Science Center.
 
The delegation's visit represents the partnership developed by the WTCGP and World Trade Center Tianjin, following a formal signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in June 2017.  Philadelphia and Tianjin share a long-standing tradition of business and cultural exchange dating back to the Sister City Agreement signed between Philadelphia and Tianjin in 1979. In June 2016, a delegation from Tianjin visited with WTCGP China Club members to explore opportunities for cooperation to expand trade and investment between Tianjin and the Binhai New Area and Greater Philadelphia. With the growing need for advanced medical care in China and the interest of Chinese students to attend U.S. colleges and universities, promising sectors identified included health (including medical tourism) and higher education, both strengths of the Greater Philadelphia Region
 
Next week, Chairman Biehn will be visiting Director-General Wang and her team in Tianjin.
 
"This represents the power of our WTC network at work," says Linda Conlin, President.

Via Philadelphia International Medicine

A new collaboration between Philadelphia International Medicine and Cancer Center Tec 100 will allow the exchange of medical knowledge and technology to improve both communities.

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia International Medicine (PIM) and Cancer Center Tec 100 have created a partnership that will enable both organizations to share medical knowledge and technology while also working to improve accessibility to highly skilled care in both Philadelphia and Santiago de Queretaro, Mexico.
 
"It is an honor to work with a renowned institution in Mexico focused on the quality of patient care and long-term clinical results, which houses a group of experts in cancer treatment and advanced treatments." said Edgar Antistenes Vesga, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Philadelphia International Medicine.
 
Their recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will allow the two organizations to create a collaborative relationship in the areas of clinical and administrative training, physician exchanges, enhancing the continuum of care and other joint opportunities.

Cancer Center Tec 100 – PIM Health Gateway Initiative will create a channel to share medical knowledge and technology while also working to improve accessibility to highly skilled care. By building relationships and jointly exploring opportunities, both parties, as well as their constituents, seek to better the overall health of their communities. Through this gateway, PIM will offer a unique opportunity for Cancer Center Tec 100's physicians to have access to continuous medical education seminars, medical training, innovative uses of medical technology and coordinated comprehensive patient care. This new partnership will facilitate learning, relationship building between the medical societies, their affiliated hospitals and members, and provide a better understanding of each party’s culture, communities, and norms. 

"Signing an agreement with Philadelphia International Medicine will open the opportunity to our network of healthcare professionals to interact with peers in Philadelphia and for our patients to have access to more specialized treatments and opinions when needed. We are proud that we were chosen based on our Mission, Quality and great Patient Experience." said Juan Manuel Fraga Sastrías,  Executive Director of Cancer Center Tec 100.
 
The MOU specifically covers four areas of on-going continued education including live, video conference seminars through PIM’s Global Education Media (GEM) program; physician medical education through the Physician Partnership Program (PPP); physician and consultant visits through conferences; and patient referrals and second opinions.
 
PIM’s Global Education Media program (GEM) will conduct a monthly one-hour teaching exchange focused on various specialties hosted by faculty from Philadelphia International Medicine’s hospital network.
 
PIM’s PPP program will give Cancer Center Tec 100's physicians the experience of coming to Philadelphia and being paired with a physician from PIM's network hospitals. During this time, they will become similar to temporary faculty by attending team meetings, rounds and observations at clinics and surgery. This one-week program will give Cancer Center Tec 100's physicians the chance to participate in an interactive peer-to-peer clinical development program as well as create relationships with other physicians, the community of Philadelphia, and other global participants.
  
About Cancer Center Tec 100
Cancer Center Tec 100 was founded in the city of Querétaro in 2013 and its fundamental proposal is to offer Humanly Worthy Life Hope in the Fight against Cancer. It has a Network of more than 140 specialists from different areas and the services of Oncology, Hematology, Oncological Surgery, Quality of Life, Palliative Care-Symptom Control, Radio-oncology in both the pediatric and adult areas. It is located at Tec 100 Salud in Tower 2 First Floor in the city of Querétaro.
 
About Philadelphia International Medicine
Philadelphia International Medicine (PIM) is a healthcare organization dedicated to bringing the services of eight prestigious Philadelphia area hospitals to the international community. PIM’s network includes Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple University Hospital, and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital as anchor organizations and affiliate healthcare organizations include Wills Eye Hospital, Rothman Institute Orthopedics, the Vincera Institute, Magee Rehabilitation Hospital and the Renfrew Center. Learn more about PIM by visiting www.philadelphiamedicine.com   

Establishing boots on the ground is often a crux for small-sized overseas companies looking to expand globally, but a new program will give them the assistance to potentially establish a presence in Greater Philadelphia.
That's meaningful since, according to experts, "understanding societal and ethical norms in messaging is essential" when crossing borders.

The World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia and USA Strategic Ventures created an international business development program to help companies based overseas market products and services and plant physical roots in the United States.

​The international business development program "assists international companies in assessing the viability of selling into the Greater Philadelphia and U.S. markets and provides a blueprint with best strategies for entering the market,” said Linda Conlin, president of the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, in an interview with the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Read more.

PRI's The World, By Jason Margolis

Listen to the story.

As the trade war between the US and China ratchets up, American exporters may just have to get used to Chinese-imposed tariffs. It’ll surely cost US businesses some sales. In Philadelphia, an ice cream maker who is already invested in the Chinese market has already gotten used this.

“The company was founded by my great-great-grandfather in 1861. That makes us the oldest ice cream brand in America,” says Michael Strange, the owner and president of Bassetts ice cream in Philadelphia.

People line up at Bassetts' counter in downtown Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market to sample the premium ice cream — flavors like Irish Coffee, Moose Tracks and Butterscotch Vanilla.

“The driver is the amount of butterfat in our product. We have a 16.5 percent butterfat recipe, which makes the product very rich and creamy. It has a very silky mouthfeel,” says Strange.

He’s not exaggerating — the ice cream is outstanding. You don’t stay in business since the Civil War without knowing what you’re doing.

It may be delicious, but why is a regional company with 30 employees exporting ice cream to Asia? How does it make economic sense to ship ice cream — frozen — halfway across the world?

“My standard reply is: It actually costs me more to ship our product to Chicago than to China,” says Strange.

Transporting by ocean container ship is cheaper than hauling ice cream by truck. Still, wouldn’t it just be easier to send the recipe to Asia and churn it over there?

“Not to say anything too negative, but they really don't know how to make ice cream the way we do here in the United States,” says Strange. “‘Made In the USA’ is a very big part of our marketing in Asia. And if we made it there we couldn’t say ‘Made in the USA.’

Strange began exporting to China a decade ago, then to South Korea in 2016. In just a year and a half, his Korean partner has opened 32 Bassetts ice cream cafés, with South Korean sales already surpassing Chinese.

One reason for the explosive growth in South Korea: no tariffs. The US and South Korea have a free trade agreement. But, for a decade, every gallon of ice cream Strange has exported to China has been slapped with a 19 percent tax. His Chinese buyer has had to pay that.

“The tariffs really do add quite a bit to his costs,” says Strange. “That said, he is marketing the product as a super-premium ice cream, so he's really trying to reach middle-income and higher-income customers. And unlike a Ferrari or a Porsche, ice cream is affordable even to a middle-income customer, even if it's expensive by ice cream standards.”

Strange says without those tariffs, however, he’d be selling a lot more scoops in China:  “No doubt about it.”
And make no mistake, this is far bigger than just selling a few extra ice cream cones.

“How great for the city of Philadelphia to have a Philadelphia company out there in South Korea or in China,” says Linda Conlin, president of the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia.

Conlin’s job is to help local companies navigate international export markets. She points out a statistic from the US Department of Commerce: Every million dollars in exports supports nearly six American jobs. Her organization doesn’t want to jeopardize that growth through policies that could restrict open markets.

Conlin, a former official in the George W. Bush administration, was careful with her words when discussing tariffs and a potential trade war with China.

“Our companies are concerned about tariffs and the repercussions of a potential trade war. At the same time, we acknowledge that trade does not take place on a level playing field.”

That echoes what many are saying about President Donald Trump’s trade policy: The president has tapped into real problems with China, such as unfairly subsidizing Chinese companies, but retaliatory American tariffs are the wrong solution.

Still, Conlin says she’s hopeful the current “disruption taking place” will, in the end, be better for local businesses.
“Companies that export typically enjoy higher revenues, they weather recessions better than non-exporting companies,” Conlin says. “They have access to a richer pool of employees, they tend to innovate more.”

Consider: Bassetts' green tea ice cream, developed for the Asian market, has now also become popular in the US.
Strange is interested in expanding to more international markets — in Asia, South America, and the Middle East.

Strange has lived with Chinese-imposed tariffs for a decade. He says they don’t keep him awake at night, but worries about the threat of more coming — “I am absolutely concerned about that. No doubt about it.”
​
Lest you think this is a story about one man’s concern, ice cream contributes $39 billion annuallyto the US economy.