International Business Major in New York

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New York City is unchallenged as the world’s financial center, and serves as the international business capital of the United States. According to the New York City Commission for the United Nations, 2,000 foreign-based companies have established corporate offices and service operations in New York City. As home to the world’s largest international community where 170 languages are spoken throughout the city’s five boroughs, and as the US headquarters for the United Nations and 18 of the most powerful foreign-owned banks in the world, this global financial center provides an environment where finance and banking, biotechnology, professional services and manufacturing dominate the economic landscape and form the core of global trade.

The pool of talented international business professionals in New York City is like none other in the world, as this city is home to 164 academic institutions, many of which are business schools preparing some of the most promising international business majors in the world.

According to the International Trade Administration, service and merchandise exports from New York totaled $82.9 billion in 2011. Foreign-owned companies employ 386,100 New York residents, with the largest foreign investment in the state coming from multinationals based in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Switzerland.

New York’s International Trade Partners

The International Division of Empire State Development acts as New York State’s international economic development agency. In its effort to help support a global presence for the state’s many businesses, this division maintains offices around the world, in locations that include Toronto, Quebec, Hong Kong, London, Paris, Germany, Israel, Australia, Brazil, Chile and South Africa. New York’s export activities with its partner countries are further facilitated by the implementation of a number of bilateral and regional free trade agreements. The state’s largest trade partner in 2011 was Canada, followed by Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Israel and Switzerland.

The International Trade Administration reported that the area that produced the highest export value of any other area in the nation was the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area, serving as the hub for service and merchandise exports that total some $70 billion a year. The metropolitan area of Rochester exported $4.9 in merchandise during this time, while the areas of Buffalo-Niagara, Albany-Schenectady-Troy, Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middleton, and Syracuse rounded out the state’s top export centers.

New York offers direct access to an efficient transportation network that facilitates foreign trade and international commerce through three major airports, the Port of New York and New Jersey, the largest port on the east coast of North America, and the Long Island Rail Road. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey maintains the region’s trade and transportation network, a highly complex infrastructure that includes the airport system, marine terminals and ports, and six tunnels and bridges that connect New York to New Jersey.

International Business Jobs in New York

Although merchandise exports are a substantial part of New York’s international export base, service exports have also proven to be very important to the state’s economic health. Combined, material and service exports support 21 percent of all private sector jobs in the state.

One of the state’s leading exporters of both material goods and services is General Electric. The company has major manufacturing and distribution centers located in New York, and is now the nation’s single largest industrial company. This multi-industry multinational is involved in aviation and defense product manufacturing, energy and electrical production and distribution, business and consumer finance, healthcare, oil and gas exploration, among many other areas of service, distribution, production and manufacturing. In January 2012, the company posted earnings of $4.1 billion for the previous year.

According to the New York City Commission for the United Nations, New York City is the headquarters of more Fortune 500 financial services companies than any other city in the world. Among New York’s many financial juggernauts is J.P. Morgan Chase & Company, a leading multinational financial services firm operating in more than 60 countries. Citigroup is another leading global financial services company headquartered in New York, and has operations in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions around the word, with global assets totaling $2 trillion.

Both US firms, and foreign-owned multinationals with operations in the state, scour New York’s pool of professional talent as they recruit international business mangers and consultants, import compliance and trade specialists, international marketing managers and market research analysts, as well as accountants versed in International Financial Reporting Standards, among many other international business professionals.

Making International Business Contacts in New York

New York offers a number of resources for US businesses interested in expanding into foreign markets, as well as for foreign multinationals exploring locales for operational centers in the state: