Moderator:
Steve Olson, Co-Chair, World Trade Center of Los Angeles and former Executive Director, SelectUSA
Speakers:
Stephen Cheung, Director of International Trade, Port of Los Angeles
Guanbin Zhang, Commercial Consul, Chinese Consulate - Los Angeles
Mauricio Andres Ribeiro, Deputy Secretary General, National Water Agency, Brazil
James Villeneuve, Consul General, Canadian Consulate - Los Angeles
Sachiko Yoshimura, Chief Executive Director, JETRO
Responder:
Juha Markkanen, Consul General, Consulate General of Finland in Los Angeles
In Los Angeles County, the green technology sector has exponentially increased in the past five years, bringing significant support to industry growth, according to the LAEDC. Over $6.6 billion has been raised by Los Angeles County companies since the turn of the century, and over $3.8 billion of that total has been raised since 2012. In 2011, a record high of $279 billion was invested in clean-tech. Despite significant drops in global investments in 2012, in developing economies, clean tech investment rose by 19 percent. Has government taken a more active role by incentivizing cleantech investment through subsidies and tax breaks? Or have push and pull factors like Japan’s nuclear crisis and solar boom simply directed more investment towards cleantech? What is the outlook for business in Brazil, Canada, China, and Japan? What factors are influencing current clean tech investments, and what is the outlook within the next five and ten years?