Locke kicks off 11-day Asian trip to boost US exports with stop in HK

US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke stops off in Hong Kong tomorrow at the start of the first cabinet-level trade mission of the Obama administration.

Joined by representatives from 29 US companies, Locke will be promoting American clean energy technologies and services on an 11-day trip to China and Indonesia as part of the US initiative to double exports in the next five years.

'Innovative companies like these bringing emerging technologies to a dynamic new market are going to play a big role in meeting President Obama's ambitious goals laid out in his export initiative,' Locke said on Wednesday. He added that the mission would help meet the goals of China and Indonesia to curb emissions and boost energy efficiency.

American executives will also visit Shanghai and Beijing to make a bid for a growing market in green technology and services. They are competing with a mainland clean energy industry that is flush with investment, and has become a notable supplier to US and European markets.

But while Chinese firms like solar panel producer Suntech dominate their corner of the market nationwide, some analysts said there was ample potential for foreign companies to make inroads.

'There's definitely room for innovative technologies,' said Will Pearson, a global energy and natural resources analyst at the Eurasia Group, which assesses political risk for multinational companies.

A need in China for new wind and solar technologies, as well as advances in mitigating local manufacturing pollution and energy emissions, he said, could mean business for companies on the cutting edge.