Susanne Stirling, California Chamber of Commerce vice president for international affairs has been appointed to the International Trade and Investment Advisory Council by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.
Stirling has led the CalChamber International Trade Department since 1982. She is a member of the National Export Council Steering Committee, U.S. Chamber of Commerce International Committee, University of the Pacific Board of Regents and the Chile-California Council, and is an alternate member at the California International Relations Foundation Board. Stirling earned an M.A. in international relations from the University of Southern California School of International Relations, and a B.A. in international relations from the University of the Pacific. The position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.
The California International Trade and Investment Advisory Council advises the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) on strategies to expand international trade and investment for California businesses and assists GO-Biz in identifying foreign markets with the greatest potential for export expansion. The council also aids GO-Biz in developing specific export strategies for those markets—including the state’s top trading partners, Canada, Mexico and China, and emerging markets such as Brazil and India, as well as strategies to attract more job-creating foreign direct investment into the state.
The council will hold its first meeting next month in Sacramento.
Among the other council appointees is Roy Paulson, a longtime member of the CalChamber Council for International Trade. Paulson is president of Paulson Manufacturing and director of Paulson International Ltd. He chairs the National District Export Council. Stirling serves with Paulson on the national council’s steering committee. Both are appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
The appointments build on Governor Brown’s action to boost international trade, including the 2013 Trade and Investment Mission to China, the opening of the California-China Office of Trade and Investment in Shanghai, a trade meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping in California and the 2014 Trade and Investment Mission to Mexico, where the Governor was joined by a delegation including approximately 90 business, economic development, investment and policy leaders from throughout California. The Mexico mission was organized by CalChamber with the assistance of its nonprofit think tank, the California Foundation for Commerce and Education.
California recently surpassed Brazil to become the seventh largest economy in the world. The state registered a record number of exports in 2014 with businesses exporting more than $174.1 billion in goods, 3.6% higher than the previous year. Foreign-controlled companies employ 590,100 California workers and foreign investment in the state is responsible for 4.9% of the state’s total private industry employment.
