[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 22, 1996)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 25769-25770]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-13102]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 100 / Wednesday, May 22, 1996 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 25769]]


                Proclamation 6899 of May 20, 1996

                
World Trade Week, 1996

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                International commerce is vital to domestic economic 
                growth--perhaps more so now than at any other time in 
                recent U.S. history. Our Nation's prosperity depends in 
                large part on our ability to develop and produce high-
                quality products, identify and open markets, and 
                promote American goods and services across the globe. 
                The U.S. jobs supported by exports are increasingly 
                important, paying an average of 13 percent more than 
                other positions and accounting for nearly one out of 
                ten American workers and one in five of those in the 
                manufacturing sector. The theme of this year's World 
                Trade Week, ``Winning with Exports,'' is an invitation 
                and a challenge to U.S. firms to reap the benefits of 
                doing business abroad.

                My Administration has developed a National Export 
                Strategy that places special emphasis on helping small- 
                and medium-sized companies seize trade opportunities. 
                As part of this plan, we have created a country-wide 
                network of U.S. Export Assistance Centers to provide 
                information and capital to businesses seeking to 
                expand. The results speak for themselves; in 1995, 
                actions taken by Centers like those in Chicago and 
                Baltimore dramatically increased the number of U.S. 
                firms entering new markets and boosting export sales.

                Trade is also a means of fostering understanding and 
                stability around the world, helping our Nation to build 
                partnerships founded on mutual prosperity. American 
                commerce and investments are strengthening new 
                democracies whose viability depends on economic growth 
                and raised standards of living. From South Africa, to 
                Central Europe, the Baltic States, Russia, Ukraine, and 
                the Newly Independent States, exporting is allowing our 
                country to play a pivotal role in settling and 
                solidifying crucial foreign markets. Trade is also 
                essential to troubled regions such as the Middle East, 
                Northern Ireland, and Bosnia, where job creation and 
                economic improvements play an important role in efforts 
                to achieve peace.

                As we observe World Trade Week, 1996, let us strive to 
                give our Nation's exporters every opportunity to sell 
                products freely and fairly and help our companies to 
                meet the challenge of exploring markets abroad. Their 
                efforts to maintain efficient, high-quality production 
                and to promote American goods and services to an 
                international clientele will lead to a stronger economy 
                and a brighter future for us all.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim May 19 through May 25, 1996, 
                as World Trade Week. I call upon the people of the 
                United States to observe this week with ceremonies, 
                activities, and programs that celebrate the potential 
                of international trade.

[[Page 25770]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen 
                hundred and ninety-six, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and twentieth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 96-13102
Filed 5-21-96; 10:58 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P