At the same time, Mr. Obama plans to announce today a second SelectUSA Summit to be held next spring in Washington, with more than 2,500 invited guests expected.
The White House credits SelectUSA with assisting in winning more than $18 billion in job-creating business investments for the U.S. in 17 states and territories.
Speaking at the summit this morning, Mr. Obama said:
"...these are some outstanding companies, all of whom are investing in the United States,...representing major companies that see the U.S. as a great place to do business. We have made enormous strides over the last several years not just recovering from a Great Recession, but taking advantage of and now marketing the advantages of doing business in the United States — whether it's low energy costs, an incredibly productive workforce.
"Obviously, we have the most dynamic and creative and innovative economy in the world, but we don't always do what it takes to go after business around the world and make sure that they know the benefits of investing in the largest market on Earth.
"And we want to be more systematic about it. We want to make sure that the federal government is working in sync with state and local governments when it comes to locating businesses here in the United States."
Other companies invited to today's White House summit include:
- Ericsson Inc., a Swedish multinational corporation, involved in communications technology, software and services for telecommunications operators;
- Ford Motor Co.;
- GlobalFoundries Inc., the second largest contract chip manufacturer in the world;
- K'NEX Brands;
- Lufthansa Group;
- Novozymes A/S of Denmark;
- Richelieu Inc.;
- Safran Group of France;
- Umicore USA, a Belgian global materials technology and recycling group; and
- Zurich North America, the regional subsidiary of Switzerland's Zurich Insurance Group.