Not so long ago, the chief executive of an exporting association in some far off place lamented that exporters needed some ‘mates’.  It wasn’t, it seemed, fashionable any more to be working in the once glamorous field of exporting. Perhaps in a time when travelling to foreign places is much more commonplace, the mystique of the international traveller is not what it once was.

In any case, exporters were traditionally associated with physical products. That’s not where it’s at these days, you see. The glamour is all in services, or at least it was until the credit crunch hit us all.  But who makes these daft rules, anyway?

I heard it said that the English footballer Michael Owen, saw his European career wane because he was that unfashionable animal, a goal scorer. I realise I don’t know much about football, but hold on a minute! I do know that you win a football match by scoring more goals than the other lot, so surely some guy who has a nack for putting them in the back of the net is quite a handy guy to have around, no?

As I see it, it’s  much the same for exporters, whether they are selling goods or services, they help to reduce the country’s balance of payments deficit, which is good news for all of us, as I’ll probably expand on at another time. But something tells me this whole stigma thing goes a bit deeper than just fashion. This time, it’s personal!

If you are an exporter, perhaps you can relate with me on the feeling of gradually becoming a stranger at home, and of the somewhat disconcerting fact that whenever you return to your comfortable desk at the office after yet another sojourn, the first thing the boss always wants to know is “where are you going next?” It’s really worrying when one of your best customers calls the office and asks for you by name to be told “I don’t think he works here any more.” And when your much loved pet dog/cat/budgerigar/stick insect just growls at you when you occasionally do make it back to that strange building you laughingly call home, then surely it’s time that something was done?!

I hate to be the one to bring this up, but it’s high time we exporters looked at the facts, and the thing I can’t seem to get away from is this nagging feeling that well…

NO-ONE LIKES US!

OK, so it’s out in the open now, and I know I’m among friends. We exporters need each other. Let’s stand together and demand our rights. Thank you for supporting this blog.

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