Nine Arizona companies will be making their pitch to European aero businesses July 10th-14th, during the Farnborough International Air Show.• Welcome
• We Are Here To Help
• How the Cluster Effect and Cross-Fertilization Can Nurture Arizona’s Bioscience Future
• Arizona Takes Flight at Farnborough
• Sun Shines on Solar Prospects
• Has the Euro Peaked?
A warm welcome to the third quarterly newsletter from the Arizona Department of Commerce - designed to keep you up to date on trade developments and business opportunities in Europe. To keep it brief, we’ve provided synopses of our longer articles, which feed through to our website where you’ll find the full story.
You’ll find snippets on a wide range of subjects, all designed to give you a full picture of the business environment in Europe. The newsletter carries an interactive invitation: if you have any questions on working in Europe or want to share your experience on working internationally contact Karla Teixeira at: karlat@azcommerce.com. Equally, to share your own experiences with other Arizona businesses, Karla is the person to contact.
ADOC has personnel on both sides of the Atlantic dedicated to helping you do more business in Europe. Your two main points of contact are:
Karla Teixeira
Based in Arizona, Karla is the Department
of Commerce’s International Trade Specialist.
She can be reached on 602-771-1156 or at karlat@azcommerce.com.
Nick Deane
Based in England, Nick can be contacted on 01144 1743
860309 and by email at: nick.deane@ontracinternational.com.
If you’re an SME hoping to break into the European market, you don't have to do it alone. Use ADOC’s suite of free services – dedicated to bringing in business to Arizona companies. From market research to setting up distributorship opportunities, we’re here to point you in the right direction. Click here for more information on our services.
"Biotech is the future," according to Bruce Wright, Associate Vice President for Economic Development at the University of Arizona. And to make that future possible, a 65-acre Bioscience Park is being planned for Tucson.
According to Wright, "We are very strong in the life sciences, medicine, and biosciences, but our ability to successfully compete nationally and internationally for these firms depends on our ability to have adequate and available space for them to come to Tucson."
While the first phase would encompass 660,000 square feet of space, it could ultimately encompass a massive three million square feet of business space.
If Arizona's experience mirrors that of Europe, the industry will be given a huge boost, simply because of the cluster effect achieved in creating a center of excellence. While the US remains the world's top location for life sciences clusters, Europe also has powerful life science players.
In fact, UK companies account for 40% of biotech products in the pipeline by European public companies, and a massive 45% of new biotech drugs in late-stage clinical trials in Europe.
The UK has developed a hugely successful development policy of creating bioscience parks close to major universities such as Cambridge and Oxford. Being close to a number of smaller universities in less prestigious locations also enables companies to recruit quality staff and set up collaborative research programs. The Thames Gateway's Kent Science Park is a scientific cluster that rivals some of the best in Europe. Home to 80 companies including Pfizer, Harada, and MDS Pharma, it taps into the best strengths of 11 local universities.
Further west, the Thames Valley is home to one of the country’s largest life science clusters, including companies like Bayer, Wyeth, and Celltech. It draws on research-intensive universities such as the University of Reading.
However, attracting big names to the cluster is something that often only comes well into the lifetime of a bioscience park. Oxford Science Park began life as an innovation center and is now home to about 60 companies, the majority of which specialize in biotechnology. But many of these companies began, and remain, relatively small. They spring out of research or collaboration programs. When they move into a production phase, they frequently move to larger premises elsewhere.
Most biotechnology companies are small and rely on a limited number of successes. Forward thinking landlords of science parks in Europe respond to this by offering very flexible terms: Oxford Science Park offers space on a rolling monthly basis to give tenants the flexibility to vacate in 30 days.
The way forward for many of these parks' occupants has been collaborative research programs, often conducted with overseas businesses tapping into specialist expertise in the universities that form their intellectual backbone. Says Nick Deane, Arizona's European Director, "Being based in Europe, and working on a day to day basis with the regional development agencies and the universities in those areas, we can readily set up a search program that can identify potential partners.
"An Arizona company can come to us with a product that needs independent testing - especially as some European countries are far more open to this. Or they might want to tie in with a university department that can start finding new applications for an existing product, bearing in mind that the real advances now being made are often results of cross-fertilization between different science disciplines: biology, chemistry and physics.
"Equally, we can help with new distributorships for existing bioscience products being made in Arizona. Give us a call and we can help take them to a new level."
Nine Arizona companies will be making their pitch to European aero businesses July 10th-14th, during the Farnborough International Air Show.
This is the biggest, most internationally attended aerospace event in the world, a globally renowned showcase of aerospace equipment and technology; the venue for the world's civil and military aerospace suppliers and their customers to meet and do business. Over $40bn worth of orders were announced at the 2006 show, double the figures from 2004.
The companies will be there on the Arizona pavilion, helping to present a united front and emphasize the strength of the Arizona aero sector. Says the Department of Commerce's European Director, Nick Deane: "Connecting with European businesses is a proven route for US businesses to become involved in their aerospace program - and to meet with companies where technology transfers and distributorships can benefit both sides.
"Many of the companies exhibiting this year came here at previous events as visitors to check out the event and prepare for this year's show, and if any companies would like to attend as visitors this year, we'd be delighted to offer advice on travel and accommodation and provide introductions when they attend the show."
If you are an Arizona company visiting Farnborough, be sure to call on the Arizona booth - B21 in Hall 3.
In 1908, the first powered, sustained flight in Great Britain was made at Farnborough by Samuel Franklin Cody, a US citizen. Cody built the British Army Aeroplane No. 1 in 1908 and flew it on three occasions at Farnborough that year. He flew 304 feet on September 29th and 200 feet on October 14th. On the third and final flight on October 16th he flew 1390 feet. The flight ended when the wing touched the ground as Cody attempted to turn, and the machine crashed.
Arizona's potential as a source of solar energy is attracting the interest of inward investors.
Arizona could be in line for as many as three dozen solar energy projects and facilities from Germany.
Arizona is competing with California, New Mexico, Oregon, and other states as competition heats up for solar and other alternative energy projects.
Germany is a world leader in solar technology, which might be surprising due to its colder climate. Thanks to its commitment to sustainable energy, in 2006, about half of the world's solar electricity was produced in the country. In the same year, the nation's homes and businesses installed 100,000 solar systems - 750 MW of solar-electric generation potential. It employs nearly 35,000 in the solar industry.
"Arizona companies with expertise in this field could benefit from German interest, here in Arizona, and in Germany," says Arizona's European Director Nick Deane. "We see great potential for tie-ups with German businesses, and we can easily put interested parties in touch with each other."A rising euro has been posing challenges - and opportunities - for American companies trading in and with Europe. However, there is now evidence that the euro might have peaked against the dollar: data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showing that currency traders is now betting on a decline in the euro - for the first time since December 2005.
The news comes in the wake of a marked deterioration in economic data from the Eurozone, which is now feeling the effects of the "credit crunch" that began in the US before taking its toll in Europe. In addition, there has been weakening sentiment about the health of the economies, which are starting to see problems arising from rising commodity prices. The euro dropped by almost 4 per cent in a month from a record high of $1.6018.
The move will be welcome in most quarters: François Fillon, French Prime Minister, told reporters in Washington: "We believe that the euro globally speaking is overvalued...the US authorities are repeating ad nauseam that the dollar is too weak."
From a US perspective, the cost of importing products from Europe will be reduced, although the converse will also be true: American exports, which have undoubtedly benefited from the weakness of the dollar, will find their competitive edge being dulled.
BNP Paribas commentator Hans Redeker is quoted as saying that he expects the euro to continue down, especially given warnings from the European Central Bank that credit conditions are set to tighten in the second quarter. "With banks less willing to make loans, the Eurozone economy is set to slow," he said. "We expect data to weaken quickly, forcing the ECB to signal a rate cut when it comes back from its summer break."
The European Central Bank has been reluctant to drop interest rates, because of inflationary pressures on the system, although the UK has seen base rates cut twice. The UK cuts were, in part, to help take pressure off declining house values, which continue to fall sharply. But the "libor" rates (which dictate the cost of borrowing between banks) remain a full half point above the UK base rate of 5%, making it more difficult for borrowers to obtain mortgages. Fast rising food and fuel prices are now creating inflationary pressures in the UK, reducing the opportunity for further base rate cuts by the Bank of England.
One incentive to avoid the continuing weakness of the dollar is that the weak dollar reinforces the rise in oil prices.
To find out more on any of these stories, contact Karla here: karlat@azcommerce.com