​Philadelphia, PA – On Saturday, October 24, 2015 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., the Harmony For Peace Foundation will present “Celebrate Peace for UN70” in honor of the 70th Anniversary of the United Nations. The afternoon of musical performances and other events will take place at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia.

The concert will feature composer and conductor Johan de Meij, known for “The Lord of the Rings” symphony. He will be joined by the Peabody Youth Orchestra of Baltimore (Harlan D. Parker, Music Director) and other Harmony For Peace musicians. Featured artists will include Gohei Nishikawa, a concert pianist who has overcome a battle with dystonia to continue a successful career; and newly welcomed Dr. Yeou-Cheng Ma, accomplished violinist and violist and Executive Director of Children's Orchestra Society of New York, who for the last 25 years has been using music to work with children with developmental disorders. (More detailed biographical information is available from here.)

According to Executive Director Tomoko Torii, “For the past several years, our organization has been working closely with the United Nations, especially the Office of Disarmament Affairs, and is now an accredited civil society of the UN. This year, it is our great honor to be celebrating the anniversary of the UN’s founding as well as its continuous efforts for peace and human rights. This special event will present an opportunity for internationally, regionally and locally known artists to work together with young performers and promote friendship and peace across national and cultural borders.”

Harmony For Peace Foundation works to provide musical education and opportunities to aspiring youth artists, and will invite ChildrenSong of NJ and the Chester County Youth Choir and Chorale, two musical groups from the surrounding area, to once again take the stage. Through its donor-funded Gift of Music program, the foundation will also host young people from organizations and schools in the tri-state area to participate in a peace and music workshop, as well as enjoy the concert.

The United Nations Association of Greater Philadelphia will join Harmony For Peace as project partner, and will together lead an interfaith forum, “Living Together; the Art of Religious Tolerance,” prior to the concert from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Kimmel Center. Religious and cultural communities throughout the region will meet to discuss the United Nations’ mission for universal rights, the legacy of William Penn and Philadelphia, and the complexities of living together.

Tickets are available through the Kimmel Center box office. Donation and sponsorship opportunities are available through Harmony For Peace, including options for the post-concert meet-the-artists reception and dinner at a downtown restaurant. Also, more information can be found at www.harmonyforpeace.org. 

About Harmony For Peace Foundation:
The Harmony for Peace Foundation, www.harmonyforpeace.org, seeks to promote cross-cultural understanding through the universal language of music, serving as a bridge among nations to promote mutual respect and a common path to world peace. Through performances, art exhibitions, events and advocacy we stand for a united voice of reason against nuclear proliferation across the globe. The Founder Tomoko Torii has spent the last 25 years creating opportunities for cross-cultural and international exchange. Known for a myriad of accomplishments in both business and musical and visual arts, Torii began Harmony For Peace Foundation in 2009 as a platform for artists worldwide for creating a global family through music and arts for more peaceful and harmonious world. Harmony For Peace is a NGO-501(C) 3 incorporated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, USA.

Though down about 2 percent when counted as TEU’s (a still healthy 214,267 TEU’s handled), containerized cargoes were up 4 percent when counted as metric tonnage:  All told, 1,470,821 metric tons of containerized cargoes were handled during the first half of 2015 compared to the 1,414,220 tons of containerized cargoes handled during the same period of 2014.
 
Contributing to the 28.44 percent in overall breakbulk cargoes were several individual breakbulk cargoes that showed big gains during the first half of this year.  Cocoa beans, with 81,485 tons handled, were up 12.01 percent. Fruit, with 134,921 tons handled, was up 13.51 percent.  Steel, with 248,148 tons handled, was up 27.57 percent.  Forest products, with 369,951 tons handled,  were up 54.03 percent.
 
Liquid bulk, with 671,415 tons handled during the first half of this year, was roughly equal to the same period last year.
 
“2014 was the fifth consecutive year of double-digit cargo growth at the Port of Philadelphia, and our initial numbers for 2015 point to more good news like that by the end of this year,” said PRPA Executive Director James T. McDermott, Jr.  “With our 45-foot channel deepening project nearing completion and our Southport marine terminal project moving forward, these are exciting times for the Port, and the fact that our cargo numbers have been going up even before these projects are completed is particularly gratifying.  PRPA, our terminal operators, and the administration of PA Governor Tom Wolf are working together in a terrific manner to keep this port moving in the right direction.”
 
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania charged with the management, maintenance, marketing, and promotion of publicly-owned port facilities along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, as well as strategic planning throughout the port district.  PRPA works with its terminal operators to modernize, expand, and improve its facilities, and to market those facilities to prospective port users.  Port cargoes and the activities they generate are responsible for thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the Philadelphia area and throughout Pennsylvania.
 
​

The Baltic Question: Is the Region Secure in its Post Soviet Success... or is Russia Lying in Wait?

​World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia was joined by Rolandas Krisciunas, Ambassador of Lithuania to the U.S., Andris Razans, Ambassador of Latvia to the U.S., and Marki Tihhonova-Kreek, Deputy Chief of Mission for the Embassy of Estonia on Thursday October 8th to discuss the current situation in the Baltics regarding Russia. There was time to discuss current events with the guest speakers as well as a question and answer session, followed by networking.

All sharing borders with Russia, the Baltic nations today must address a major and growing concern expressed by Britain's Defense Secretary when he warned that Russian president Vladimir Putin presents a "clear and present danger" to the Baltic region, possibly working to destabilize the area as it has in Crimea and Ukraine, and potentially attempting to sow division within NATO as the alliance struggles with the meaning of deterrence in the 21st century.

​The Ambassadors of Lithuania and Latvia to the United States as well as the DCM of the Embassy of Estonia discussed the accomplishments and future of their region, its global role, and opportunities for expanding commercial ties with the Greater Philadelphia Region.

View image gallery

World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia is OIBD’s Regional Export Network (REN) partner for Southeast Pennsylvania

The World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, The National Committee on U.S China Relations (NCUSCR), the leading national, non-partisan public affairs organization devoted exclusively to building constructive and durable relationships between the United States and China, and Arcadia University as the location host all partnered for the October 5th locally attended China program and the nation-wide webcast.   The WTCGP and the NCUSCR collaborated on the two part program consisting of the local presentation exclusively for the WTCGP CEOs’ China Operations Club members with an insightful roundtable provided by The Hershey Company on their China World operations.  Milton P. Brice, Vice President, Finance, Hershey International discussed Hershey's story of numerous challenges and successes in the strategic planning for their China investment, setting up manufacturing and building sales operations. Hershey's acquired a Chinese company in 2013, and opened its Asia Innovation Center and new Hershey's Chocolate World stores in Shanghai.  The Fredericks Company was the sponsor for evening’s Chinese buffet enjoyed by all during Mr. Brice’s colorful presentation followed by lively discussion on how Hershey planned for entering the market, researched consumer tastes (because while everyone loves chocolate, the flavors and packaging vary by country) and established their China World consumer stores.  
 
The CEOs’ China Operations Club meeting was then followed by the live, 79 location nation-wide NCUSCR China Town Hall webcast. The program partners saw a great turnout for the live webcast of expert panelists featuring Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Mayor Sheldon Day of Thomasville, Alabama, and Daniel Rosen, founding partner of Rhodium Group.
 
Mr. Rubin led the expert panel for a live, interactive “town hall” meeting. The topic of the night was the impact China’s investments in the United States are having on American workers, communities, and the economy. China has rapidly emerged as one of the fastest growing sources of foreign direct investment in the United States, bringing increasing numbers of Chinese companies into U.S communities and providing jobs to tens of thousands of Americans, as described in the May 2015 report “New Neighbors: Chinese Investment in the United States by Congressional District,” released by the National Committee and the Rhodium Group. While foreign direct investment is a vital component of U.S economic growth, employment and competitiveness, media coverage of a few high profile Chinese investments has focused on security and economic risks. 
 
The Pennsylvania report subsection contains local area China investment information: Pennsylvania Report

View a replay of the China Town Hall meeting

View full image gallery

The conclusion of the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement is good news for  U.S. companies and for Pennsylvania and New Jersey exporters.  Over the past two  years, Pennsylvania exported $18.8B to all TPP markets.  In the last two years alone, 47% of Pennsylvania’s total goods exports went to the TPP Region.   Similarly, in New Jersey exports to TPP markets reached $12.7B annually, and accounted for 34% of total goods exports from the Garden State.
 
To date, 49% of Pennsylvania’s exports and 39% of New Jersey’s exports come from countries with whom the United States has free trade agreements.   With the conclusion of the TPP negotiations and with the support of Congress for ratification, customs duties will be reduced or eliminated, with enhanced trade rules making it  easier to do business in these markets.
 
Making companies aware of these market opportunities supports our mission of accelerating the global business growth of companies in the Greater Philadelphia Region.  Since 2002, we have helped companies in the region generate over $1.3B in new export sales.
 
Following the success of our March 2015 Global Business Conference, “Making Free Trade Agreements Work for You,” our March 2016   Global Business Conference, we will brief Pennsylvania and New Jersey businesses on the new market opportunities in TPP countries.