Statement by EXIM Chairman Kimberly Reed upon the Inauguration of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
EXIM Chairman Leading U.S. Delegation Representing President Trump
Pretoria, South Africa – Kimberly A. Reed, president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), is leading the U.S. Presidential Delegation representing President Donald J. Trump(link is external) and his administration at the inauguration of His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa. After President Ramaphosa’s swearing in held earlier today in Pretoria, Chairman Reed issued the following statement:
“I am tremendously honored with my esteemed colleagues from across the U.S. government to be here today representing President Donald J. Trump at the inauguration of His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa as President of the Republic of South Africa. President Trump extends his warmest congratulations to President Ramaphosa and welcomes South Africa’s shared commitment to democratic values. He would like South Africans to know that the United States stands together with South Africa to address regional and global challenges. We value our robust trade and investment relationship and people-to-people ties based on our shared commitment to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.”
Chairman Reed added, “As the president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, I am eager to engage with South Africa in expanding trade between our two nations. EXIM stands ready to support creditworthy transactions of all sizes and in a wide variety of industries, consistent with its statutory requirements per the bank’s charter. With the recent installation of EXIM’s board of directors, we again are open to support U.S. exports of goods and services to South Africa’s infrastructure projects with long-term financing. Increasing trade between our two countries is a win for both the South African economy and for American workers and exporters.”
Other members of the U.S. Presidential Delegation are Bonnie Glick, deputy administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Andrew Olmem, deputy assistant to the president for Economic Policy and deputy director of the National Economic Council; Jessica Lapenn, chargé d’affaires ad interim, United States Embassy, Pretoria; and Cyril Sartor, special assistant to the president and senior director for African Affairs, National Security Council.
EXIM’s board of directors was restored earlier this month with the U.S. Senate confirmations and the installation of EXIM’s new board. In addition to Chairman Reed, Spencer Bachus III and Judith Pryor also were confirmed and sworn in as board members. The three appointments restored the quorum on EXIM’s board of directors, returning the bank to full functionality, which includes the capacity to authorize financing for transactions of more than $10 million.
ABOUT EXIM BANK:
EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to overseas purchasers of U.S. goods and services. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, 90 percent of the total number of the bank’s authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 2000, EXIM has sent $14.8 billion to the U.S. Treasury after paying for all of its administrative and program expenses.
For more information about EXIM, please visit www.exim.gov.