USTDA Tools: Reverse Trade Missions

How can a technology provider in Tennessee partner with an infrastructure developer in Thailand? The answer to this question is important because U.S. innovation and expertise play a critical role in addressing the world's infrastructure challenges when the right people come together.

This is where USTDA's reverse trade missions (RTMs) play an important role. They do more than just link buyers and sellers - they build partnerships between industry leaders in the United States and emerging economies to address pressing infrastructure challenges.

What is an RTM?

USTDA funds RTMs when the interests of U.S. industry and our overseas partners intersect. Whether it is to make Pacific Island ports more resilient to climate impacts or to strengthen aviation security, RTMs bring delegations of infrastructure decision-makers from emerging economies to the United States to highlight best practices and technologies that are specific to their needs.

What does an RTM look like?

RTMs typically visit 2-3 relevant U.S. industry hubs, like Boston for healthcare infrastructure, Houston for methane abatement technology, or Washington, DC, to learn about regulatory practices that can open new markets for U.S. companies.

Our delegations participate in site visits to see the manufacture and operation of U.S. technology. They meet one-on-one with U.S. companies and provide insight on their infrastructure goals and technology requirements. RTMs also introduce our partners to their U.S. counterparts, resulting in the sharing of best practices and deeper industry ties.

All USTDA programming focuses on mobilizing capital for our partners' infrastructure needs, and our RTMs are no different. They include meetings with representatives of sources of financing like the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, private banks, and multilateral financial institutions.

What are the benefits of RTMs?

RTMs bring opportunities to the doorsteps of U.S. companies and reflect the Agency's winning formula for building ecosystems of partnerships that lead to results for the United States and our global partners. Our delegates are central to this strategy. They represent their countries' current and next generation leaders and often elevate their RTM experience to shape ideas for new infrastructure projects that can benefit from USTDA's project preparation tools. Our RTM alums tell us this experience stays with them throughout their careers.

The results of our RTM partnership-building are abundant, leading to recent outcomes like the deployment of U.S.-made ocean sensors to guard Indonesians against natural disasters, medical devices to treat patients in Türkiye, and screening technologies to secure Mozambique's Port of Maputo.

Bringing the right people together for these kinds of outcomes is what we do best. RTMs are a key tool in this effort.

By Enoh T. Ebong, USTDA Director