THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

                     VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES
            ONLINE ASSISTANCE FOR AMERICA'S SMALL EXPORTERS

     Washington, DC -- Vice President Al Gore announced today the

opening of a new Internet website designed to help small firms both find and capitalize on international business opportunities.

The new site, created by the Small Business Administration, is called TradeNet's Export Advisor and may be found at www.tradenet.gov.

"Export Advisor will provide small exporters with a one-stop shop of information and services needed to succeed in today's increasingly global economy," Vice President Gore said. "The Small Business Administration clearly understands that prosperity in the 21st century requires us to both engage the world and take advantage of the opportunities afforded to us in the Information Age."

"The number of small businesses that export has tripled in the last decade," SBA Administrator Aida Alvarez said. "Small businesses now account for almost a third of all U.S. export sales. Nearly 97 percent of U.S. firms that export are small businesses. TradeNet's Export Advisor will be an invaluable resource in keeping small businesses in the exporting game."

TradeNet's Export Advisor is an extension of the U.S. Business Advisor (www.business.gov). The Small Business Administration and Vice President's National Partnership for Reinventing Government unveiled a newly redesigned and improved version of the Business Advisor yesterday.

     The new one-stop shop for exporting provides:
     Market research
     Export laws
     Business opportunities
     Trade shows and events
     Research tools
     Information on financing
     Forms and documentation

     The Government Information Technology Support (GITS) Board is

funding TradeNet's Export Advisor. SBA's federal partners in creating the website include the Department of Commerce, Export-Import Bank, Foreign Agricultural Service, and Agency for International Development.

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