Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on making federal export financing and export promotion programs more accessible to small businesses. GAO noted that: (1) the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) has not addressed the issue of streamlining the government's export promotion structure; (2) proposed legislation would create a field network of consolidated export promotion offices, which would reduce the amount of effort required for small businesses to seek export promotion or financing assistance; (3) a pilot program to integrate export financing and promotion programs could involve Small Business Administration, Export-Import Bank, and U.S. Foreign and Commercial Service field staff jointly providing export counseling; (4) adequate training and personnel selection would be crucial to such a pilot program's success; and (5) TPCC would be responsible for formally assessing the program's success at each pilot site.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights