International Business
San Francisco serves as an international center for trade and sits among the global focal points of the rapidly developing international economies in IT, digital media, clean tech and life sciences. Long the gateway between America and the Pacific—it is the largest U.S. exporting region to Asia—the area has seen its international connections blossom with its rise to prominence in the innovation industries. More than 80 consulates and foreign trade offices are located in San Francisco. It is the seventh largest exporting region in the U.S. As the financial services epicenter of the West Coast, the City features 30 of the largest non-American banking institutions in the country—among them are Barclays Bank of the United Kingdom, Sumitomo Bank of Japan, Banco di Roma of Italy, Banque Nationale de Paris of France, Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank of China, Lippo Bank of Indonesia and The Royal Bank of Scotland. E.U. activity includes the arrival of trade and investment offices from Paris and London in 2006 and 2007 and strong interest from German and Scandinavian companies in the emerging clean technology field.
Cosmopolitan in nature, the region has long been a favorite of international visitors and immigrants. Twenty percent of the population is bilingual and the majority of area students are schooled in primary and secondary institutions at which no ethnic majority dominates. Its renowned research centers and universities attract talent from around the world—a full 33% of graduate students at Stanford and 17% at UC Berkeley come from overseas.
The links at left access information specific to international business in the San Francisco Bay Area.