The USA-Eurasia Business Conference will be held at Creighton’s Harper Center on Oct. 11 and 12. The conference, which aims to promote export-import relationships among the United States and Eurasian countries, will focus on using common economic interests to foster trade and cooperation between these countries.
The event itself, which will involve presentations and speakers both from visiting countries and the U.S., is the first of what organizers hope will be an annual event in the Omaha area. Discussion among local business leaders, foreign representatives and economic panels will hopefully address the economic needs of the different areas and will find a way to foster trade and economic relationships between the United States and these Eurasian countries.
“The Conference is a unique opportunity for our city, the Midwest and Eurasian countries to learn about each other’s cultures, needs, business possibilities and challenges,” said Barbara Velinsky, the community projects director from the Office of the Mayor. “We are hopeful that this exchange will lead ultimately to greater communication, collaboration and business for the U.S. and our international visitors.”
Besides the United States, representatives from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Turkey will be present at the conference. Previously, these areas seldom interacted economically with the U.S., but organizers of this international business conference hope to change this with next week’s event.
“Instead of [the United States] going to these countries to foster economic relations, they are coming to us,” said Arts & Sciences senior Danny Durski, who has been working with the Office of the Mayor to put this conference together. “The needs of these countries in the Eurasian region right now are primarily agricultural and mining–things that the Midwest has to offer.”
The USA-Eurasia Business Conference will help grow Omaha business by connecting political leaders with local companies. Organizers hope that this kind of economic cooperation will eventually bring more employment and revenue to the Omaha community. According to the Omaha World-Herald, companies such as Caterpillar, Valmont, Monsanto, Cargill and ConAgra, which specialize in construction, agriculture and manufacturing, will also benefit from this kind of economic dialogue.
In addition to helping local businesses, this can be beneficial to Creighton students. It is not often that foreign ambassadors visit the city of Omaha, let alone Creighton’s campus. An event like this provides a unique opportunity not only to learn from economic discussion but also to observe international cooperation.
“We don’t often have foreign ambassadors visit Omaha,” Durski said. “For the typical Creighton student, [listening] to this discussion about trade and foreign issues would be very beneficial. You can learn things [here] that you would never be able to learn in a classroo