Acknowledging Utah’s strength in international trade, several economic leaders recently hailed the state’s advancement from “Crossroads of the West” to “Crossroads of the World” and suggested that the Utah can share its success with other states and other nations.
“We’re more than happy to share what we know, how we’ve done it, even here in America,” Gov. Gary Herbert said at the Utah Global Forum in Salt Lake City.
“The good news is, it’s not a zero-sum game,” he said. “If other states will do what we’re doing, they are going to have the same kind of success. And all will benefit. It is mutually beneficial. If other countries do what we’re doing, they will have the same kind of success.
“Now, they may be farther down on the economic ladder, but they will start moving up and improving the lives of the people in their countries and in their communities. We have this opportunity to share our successes and how we did it with many people in the world today.”
Miles Hansen, president and CEO of the World Trade Center Utah, said Utah has “all the inputs necessary to lead in the global economy.”
“We have these companies in Utah already doing incredible things, so when we think about Utah being the ‘Crossroads of the World,’ it really is an opportunity that we have,” he said. “But we need to get it right. We need to think about our economy holistically. We need to work together and make sure that we maintain all of those factors that are putting us in a position to succeed.”
Utah can show the U.S. and the world “about how to apply pragmatic principles correctly, how to foster innovation and prosperity, and then how to enjoy an incredibly high quality of life,” Hansen said.
Several speakers said the elements springboarding Utah into greater international trade prominence include the future development of an inland port, the ongoing reconstruction of the Salt Lake City International Airport terminal, the rise of the Silicon Slopes technology hub and developments in Salt Lake City’s Northwest Quadrant.
“What’s taking place here is going to enhance this ability for us, in fact, to be the ‘Crossroads of the World,’” Herbert said. “It’s an exciting time because of all this. That’s why people in Utah not only use past tense — ‘Well, you had a great run’ — but they look at the future and say the future is very bright in Utah. The economic future is growing in Utah better than anyplace in America today.”
Herbert said that “no place is more uniquely suited for an economic expansion in world trade than Utah” because its population is diverse and speaks 130 languages, its people understand commerce and they have a culture of entrepreneurship.
And Utah companies understand that 95 percent of potential customers live outside the U.S., he said.
Utah’s approach is not universally shared, he noted, because it shuns high tariffs, trade wars and protectionism. “That’s not what we’re doing in Utah,” Herbert said. “We understand we want to have mutually beneficial trade. … We want win-win relationships.”
Trade missions — excursions to other countries as a way to build economic ties — have been one way to build those relationships. Herbert said they are like going to a garage or grocery store. “It’s no different when you do trade missions with countries,” he said. “You get to know them, you get to understand them, you have a trust them in, you like the business association and they become your friends. We need to promote more of that around the world.”
The forum’s keynote speaker, Ben Stein, an economist, lawyer, teacher and commentator in the areas of economics, politics and daily life in America, had many compliments for Utah, ranging from the greatness of Crown Burger food to the visionary thinking of people working to develop the inland port.
The port, he said, will be “the physical essence of trade.” Utah also has internationalism that is the essence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he added. “There’s no more perfect spot on this Earth for a new, giant, super trade zone than here in Zion, in Deseret,” Stein said, “where the geography of Earth meets the geography of the soul to create a natural trade environment of Eden.”