The preparations for World Trade Week 2010 have already begun!

Port of Los Angeles Commissioner Kaylynn Kim serves as Chair of WTW 2010 with Port of Long Beach Commissioner Mario Cordero as Vice Chair. Read more

KICKOFF BREAKFAST

Southern California’s World Trade Week observance is the most extensive and unique program of its kind in the country. The breakfast is designed to promote the importance of international trade, and more than 500 executives and members of the diplomatic corps attend each year. The World Trade Week Committee holds the annual breakfast to launch the 40-plus trade events in May. Past keynote speakers at the Kickoff Breakfast include Dr. Steven B. Sample, President of the University of Southern California (USC); Andy Bird, President, Walt Disney International, and Howard Shatz, Economist, RAND Corporation. The 2010 event will be held during the first week of May.

First observed in Southern California in 1927, World Trade Week was founded by Stanley T. Olafson, then manager of the World Trade Department of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. By 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had officially proclaimed World Trade Week a national observance by the U.S. Government. Initially created to promote the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, World Trade Week expanded its scope following World War II. Today, World Trade Week actively promotes the positive aspects of international trade that are vital to a strong local and national economy. Under the guidance of founding sponsors the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles World Airports, the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles, the original weeklong observance has now grown to more than 40 events held each May in Southern California.