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Contact: Don Canton or Don Larson

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N.D. Companies Land Trade Deals, Officials Meet With Steamship Lines to Expand Shipping

BISMARCK, N.D. – A North Dakota company that is participating in an on-going trade mission to Taiwan has landed a $1 million major service agreements with three Chinese aerospace companies, according to Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple. Other of the 10 North Dakota companies that produce and market value-added products have also reported making sales, he said.

Mid-America Aviation President Tom Kenville said late Tuesday that he has agreements from three Chinese aerospace companies to provide them with aircraft maintenance and aircraft mechanical training services. The agreements will earn Mid-America as much as $1 million in the first year of the deals and will continue to increase over five years, Kenville said.

“I’m overwhelmed with the success of our meetings,” Kenville said after meeting with other trade mission delegates late Tuesday in the Taiwan capital city of Taipei. “I should have come here for business 10 years ago.”

 Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple is leading the 29-member delegation on an eight-day trade mission that concludes June 24. The delegation includes representatives from 10 agribusinesses, several of which reported making significant sales midway through the mission.

“We were able to identify some significant opportunities prior to coming here and that groundwork is beginning to pay off,” Dalrymple said.

On Monday, Dalrymple and Department of Transportation Director Dave Sprynczynatyk met with high-level officials from four of the world’s major steamship lines in Shanghai, China and Hong Kong.

The meetings were part of Gov. Hoeven’s Unified Rail Transportation Plan to increase the pool of intermodal shipping containers that are available for North Dakota businesses.  The North Dakota officials met with the China Ocean Shipping Co. (COSCO); China Shipping Container Lines in Shanghai; Orient Overseas Container Lines; and NYK Line of Hong Kong.

 “We had some very positive meetings, and we’re opening some doors,” Dalrymple said. “These steamship operators liked the idea of getting more shipping containers from North Dakota to Asian markets.”

Earlier this week, the 10 agribusinesses participating in the mission – producers and marketers of food-grade crops – traveled throughout the island for one-on-one meetings with some of Asia’s largest food buyers and processors. Many of them said they expect even more interest in their products during their participation in the world renowned Taipei International Food Show.

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