Posts Tagged ‘China’

Giving China a Taste of Maine (Portland Press Herald)

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

The Portland Press Herald reports that Independent gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler invites potential Chinese importers to see the state’s lobster industry up close and personal. Here is an excerpt:

“I want them to understand Maine lobster is better than Australia and New Zealand lobster, that we produce enough to export to China, and that it is a sustainable fishery — which is very important to China — and that they and we can make a lot of money with trade going that way,” Cutler said.

You can read the full article here.

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RELEASE: Top Chinese Business Leaders to Visit Maine to Explore Export Opportunities for Maine Products

Monday, June 14th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 14, 2010
CONTACT: TED O’MEARA
207.699.4401
ted@cutler2010.com

PORTLAND, Maine – The chairman of the largest and most important Chinese importer of food and the chairman of one of China’s most significant investment funds will lead a delegation of Chinese businessmen on a visit to Maine on Friday. They will explore the potential for substantial purchases of lobster, wild blueberries and other Maine products, and examine investment opportunities in the Maine aquaculture industry.

“With all the great products we have in Maine, we can make trade with China a two-way street,” said Eliot Cutler, Independent candidate for governor, who will be hosting the group in Maine.  “I am confident that having these highly influential Chinese business leaders visit our state will be just the beginning of some important new relationships and opportunities for Maine companies.”

Ning Gaoning, Chairman of the China Overseas Food Corp (COFCO), and Fang Fenglei, chairman of the investment fund Hopu, will be joined by Liu Mengze, President of Ceroilfood, one of COFCO’s most important subsidiaries, and Guy Cui, one of Mr. Fang’s partners in Hopu.

The group is coming to Maine at the invitation of Cutler, who spent two years in China opening the Beijing office for his law firm and developing business opportunities.

“Getting Maine people back to work and growing our economy will depend in part on developing new export opportunities for Maine products,” Cutler said. “China is the fastest growing big economy in the world. It is a market that holds huge potential for Maine, and I want to do everything I can to help Maine companies get a foot in the door.”

Cutler cited Maine lobsters as a good fit for the Chinese market. The Chinese currently import lobsters from Australia and New Zealand, but he said those lobsters can’t begin to compare to Maine’s. “They don’t even have real claws!” Cutler said.

“The lobster industry has been hurting due to historically low prices and high costs.  I have met with fishermen, processors, and leaders of Maine’s lobster industry up and down the coast, and they all have told me that they have to expand into new markets to survive,” Cutler said. “I know that the decision makers who are visiting Maine next week will be impressed by the quality of our lobsters and the network of fisherman, dealers and processors who can deliver live and processed product to them.”

Cutler said the group will go out on Casco Bay Friday morning to haul some traps with a local fisherman and learn about the sustainability of Maine’s lobster harvest. They will also tour Portland Shellfish Company, a local processor that exports to over 20 countries internationally, among them China and Hong Kong, and will meet with other members of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council and other industry representatives.

Later in the day Friday the group will head down east to visit Jasper Wyman & Son wild blueberry operations in Cherryfield and Deblois. Wyman’s is the largest U.S.-owned wild blueberry grower/processor in Maine and has a great interest in expanding into the Chinese market.

The group will end its visit to Maine with a tour of the Maine Halibut Farms, an aquaculture company at the University of Maine’s Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research in Franklin.

# # #

Note:  A detailed schedule with specific information about times, locations, and media opportunities will be forthcoming tomorrow.

Additional background information on the significance of this visit can be obtained from:

Dane Somers
Maine Lobster Promotion Council
207-287-5140
207-749-1407 mobile
Info@lobsterfrommaine.com

Emily Lane
Portland Shellfish
207-799-9290
emily@pshellfish.com

Kim Higgins
Jasper Wyman & Son
207-546-2311
kim@wymans.com

Ted O’Meara
Cutler 2010
P.O. Box 15277
Portland, ME 04112
(207) 699-4401
(207) 653-2392 (cell)
www.cutler2010.com

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Cutler Travels His Own Path — Without the Aid of Slogans (Morning Sentinel)

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

The Morning Sentinel profiles Eliot in its Gubernatorial candidate series, looking at his breadth of experience in business, law, and politics, and his plan to bring the legislature together to find solutions for Maine. Below is an excerpt:

At that firm, Cutler was offering a combination of legal and political expertise. He was in court, and was also making deals between counties and cities. They grew the firm into the second largest land use/environmental practice in the United States, said Cutler.

Barry Conaty, a friend and former colleague, said Cutler has a “keen strategic mind,” and that he was adept at taking abstract issues and reducing them to concrete problems that could be solved with distinct steps.

You can read the complete article here.

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Living Away Enhanced Leadership Ability, Cutler says (Kennebec Journal)

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

The Kennebec Journal profiles Eliot in its Gubernatorial candidate series, looking at his breadth of experience in international business, law, and politics. Below is an excerpt:

“China is going to be the biggest market in the world during our lifetime. It ought to be one of the biggest markets for Maine products — seafood, agriculture, pulp and paper,” Cutler said. “Not to understand China the way I do, in my view, would be a shortcoming. I think I can do more for the state of Maine by virtue of what I know about the rest of the world.”

You can read the full article here.

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Fishing’s Future Spawns Debate (The Morning Sentinel)

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

The Morning Sentinel posted a review of the gubernatorial forum held at the Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport on March 5th, 2010. One of Eliot’s comments was included in the story:

Independent Eliot Cutler said he has experience negotiating with businesses in Asia and China that he would use to help the fishing industry.

“The community and harbors on the Maine coast are the heart and soul of the state of Maine,” he said. “As governor, I will help you create and strengthen the Maine brand. I have done it before.”

You can read the complete article here with Eliot’s comments highlighted in yellow.

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BLOG: While the Governor was in Europe . . .

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

. . . I was in China.  I was in Beijing for a week, meeting with Chinese clients — businesses and investors — who are looking closely at opportunities in the United States.  It’s given me another chance to reflect on what lessons we can learn from the extraordinary progress the Chinese have made in rebuilding their national economy, creating jobs, increasing incomes and educating their young people.

More than just about anything else, the story of modern China has been written in the extension of education to vast numbers – hundreds of millions – of people who never before had even dreamed of it. The result is that China has lifted more people out of poverty in less time than any other nation in the history of the world. And for individual Chinese citizens it has meant better jobs, higher incomes and expanded opportunity.

I have written and spoken about these changes and what they mean for both the Chinese and the rest of the world, here and here and here.

Our challenge in the United States and in Maine is to keep pace. Our educational system remains in important respects a much better one than the more rigid and rote Chinese approach, but these advantages will be fleeting if we don’t maintain and improve our public schools and universities.

If you want to know what I think we need to do in Maine, please take a look at my presentation – Keeping Pace: An Agenda for Maine in a Changing World.

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