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Issue: 1012 Date: 1/14/2010
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聖路易由開拓西部蛻變成向東方延伸
中國空港計劃日日升溫 國家電臺專題報導
St. Louis, gateway to the East?
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【時報訊】原本是開拓西部重要地標的聖路易，目前成為向東延伸的新希望。聖路易市投入總值十億之努力，計劃將聖路易林白機場作為“中國空港”，引進中國貨品，輸出本地區及美中西區各種貨品，完成全球化經濟佈局，這是聖路易幾十年來未曾有過之大構想。
事實上，林白國際機場在2006年完成了一條新建跑道，可惜隨著美國航空公司之縮減航班及經濟隨退，這條耗資11億元之跑道使用率祗有15%，唯有透過中國空港計劃，能將林白機場再現繁華，然而中國空港地點之設置聖路易需和芝加哥及曼菲斯、亞特蘭大等地競爭。
聖路易中國空港委員會主席，聖路易郡首席經濟顧問Mike Jones表示，經濟衰退期各大公司都減縮運輸成本，聖路易更鞥重要的是“我們已開始準備很久了”。
至於那些貨品可以填滿從中國飛來的貨機，由聖路易將貨品輸出至中國呢？據美國牛肉發展中心Rex Ricketts表示，豬肉及牛肉將是聖路易和美中西區可以向中國以航運輸出的貨品。
為讓中國空港實現，聖路易已雇請飛航貨運專業評估公司進行評估，據暸解，前DHL執行長，貨運專家Guenter Rohrmann和中國有一項百萬元之商議協議達成共識，如果能夠成功簽署，將使中國空港之實現向前邁進一大步。
St. Louis, gateway to the East?
The city of St. Louis is putting $1 billion into an effort to make its airport a hub for goods coming from China. If the plan works, it could give the city something it hasn't had in decades -- a stake in the global economy. Adam Allington reports.
BILL RADKE: The St. Louis airport is looking beyond Christmas to the future. Airport officials are trying to become a hub for goods coming from China.
City and state leaders have put a billion dollars into the plan, and if it pans out, it could give the city something it hasn't had in decades -- a stake in the global economy.
ADAM ALLINGTON: St. Louis' Lambert Airport opened a new runway in 2006. Unfortunately, the airport failed to predict huge cutbacks by its main carrier, American Airlines.
The upshot? A $1.1 billion slab of concrete that's only in use 15 percent of the time. That runway is the ace in the hole regional business leaders are hoping will persuade Chinese exporters to route goods through St. Louis instead of, say, Chicago or Atlanta.
MIKE JONES: I think it would be a game changer for St. Louis. It would put us back in global commerce in a big way.
Mike Jones is Chairman of a group of local politicians and business leaders trying to shepherd the deal. Central to their pitch, he says, is the fact that during a recession everyone is looking to cut shipping costs, and St. Louis sits smack in the middle of the country.
JONES: And as people start to figure out where they're going to go next as the economy grows, this is our opportunity to have those conversations.
Bringing products in, however, is only one part of the equation. Any planes landing in St. Louis need to be filled with goods heading back to China.
Rex Ricketts of the Center for Beef Excellence says there are two Midwest products the Chinese really want.
REX RICKETTS: Pork, and the other is beef. And that's really good news for Missouri.
In an effort to seal the deal, St. Louis has hired the air-freight equivalent of a rock star. Guenter Rohrmann is a former executive at DHL and leading freight expert.
Rohrmann is getting close to a million dollars to negotiate with the Chinese. If he's successful, it could be the biggest boost for the region since they built a bridge over the Mississippi. |
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