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LSU AgCenter Hosts Groups In Search Of International Business
BATON ROUGE, LA.
With tariffs and other trade issues leading the news, a recent delegation brought good news to the LSU AgCenter by showing their interest in generating new markets.
The group included representatives from CzechTrade, a Czech Republic export agency, along with representatives from the World Trade Center of New Orleans. They are interested in developing business opportunities and relationships in Louisiana.
Ivana Tregenza, LSU AgCenter Global Network associate director, led the group on a tour of the AgCenter Food Incubator, food sensory labs and the LaHouse Home and Landscape Resource Center.
“We wanted to give them a chance to see some of the work that we’re doing here and look for areas where we could possibly create some trade relations,” she said.
As the group toured the Food Incubator, they examined various products being produced by a number of local companies.
Tregenza said the goal of the visit was to develop some business relationships in the U.S., but mainly with Louisiana businesses.
“There are a number of businesses that would be able to do business on an international level,” she said. “We’re interested in companies that want to do two-way business with the United States.”
The trade representatives included Jan Kubata, director of the CzechTrade office in Chicago, which is a Czech export agency, along with Martin Pospíšil, honorary consul of the Czech Republic in New Orleans.
During the afternoon, Viktoria Bodnárová, director of the EURAXESS office in Washington, D.C., spoke to a group of graduate students and professors about research funding opportunities. EURAXESS promotes European Union funding mechanisms for international research cooperation.
“She helps us to understand how our researchers can work with European researchers,” Tregenza said. “She’s another part of the puzzle to help generate business.”
Bodnárová’s presentation was about Horizon 2020, the EU’s framework for research and innovation. It comprises three funding programs: ERASMUS, Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowships and the European Council.
Bodnárová said the advantages for international partners include opportunities to tackle global challenges together, world-class infrastructure and access to new networks and alliances.
The EU offers three funding possibilities for researchers interested in going to Europe. They include scholarships for master’s and doctoral students, fellowships for postdoctoral researchers and grants for outstanding researchers of any nationality.
The AgCenter hosted an ERASMUS Mobility Scholar from the Slovak University of Agriculture earlier this year.
The other funding source, the Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowships, offers career development opportunities with prestigious research teams in Europe, Bodnárová said.
Organizations represented in the second meeting were the Southern United States Trade Association, the Committee of 100 and Louisiana Economic Development. ∆
A group of trade representatives from CzechTrade, which is a Czech Republic export agency, along with representatives from the World Trade Center
of New Orleans, visit the LSU AgCenter Food Incubator on Aug. 28 while looking to develop business relationsin Louisiana. Marvin Moncada,
Food Incubator research associate, in white coat, explains how the products are developed.
Photo by Johnny Morgan/LSU AgCenter
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