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ND Companies and Global Trade. What's In Store For 2013?

The U-S economy continues to be “the nicest house on a bad street…” That’s how an economist with Wells Fargo compares the U-S economy to other developed nations. Aryan (uh-RYAN) Vasquez spoke with business leaders in Fargo as part of the North Dakota Trade Office’s January Trade Talk. Vasquez says despite challenges with the European Union and structural vulnerabilities, there is optimism to be found – although dealings on the federal level are not providing much for encouragement...

"…I think, you have this fiscal cliff issue, this debt limit debate and this only weighs on confidence and weighs on investor sentiment. And it’s the last thing we need at this point."

Vasquez says for 2013, indicators are continuing to point to emerging markets as the area with the strongest potential for international trade…

"…Most of the growth momentum is there. And more importantly is the fact these countries have varying degrees of policy flexibility, which the developed block doesn’t have. So if we were to get into a crisis, many of these emerging markets can get by a lot better than the developed block – meaning that recessions would be a lot less deeper than what we have here in the U-S, the impact of the financial crisis would probably be lessened because central banks really have the capacity to cut rates, treasuries and ministries have the capacity to engage in counter-cyclical activity. So from that, I sense the emerging markets are a little bit healthier."

Topping the list of potential markets… Africa. Vasquez says there are a number of African nations that remain unexplored, which could provide a tremendous upside for North Dakota businesses.