New York's Freedom Tower Will Be World's Tallest Building
A groundbreaking ceremony, held on the Fourth of July, marked the start of construction on the Freedom Tower, the 1,776 foot-tall building that will serve as the new soaring icon at the World Trade Center site. The Freedom Tower, located in the northwest corner of the World Trade Center site, will be the world's tallest building when it is complete. Steel for the Freedom Tower is expected to rise to the sky into 2006 with initial occupancy of the building in late 2008. It will contain 2.6 million square feet of office space on 72 floors.

Homeland Security Contract Awarded to L-3 Communications
New York-based L-3 Communications has received a three-year, $107.9 million contract by the Department of Homeland Security to provide technology support for biometric workstations that ensure that non-immigrant visa-holders comply with the terms of their visas and accurately identify them as they depart the U.S. from international airports and seaports.

New Jersey-Israel Strategic Partnership Agreement
An agreement between the New Jersey-Israel Commission and the U.S.-Israel Bi-national R&D Foundation will help create strategic commercial relationships between New Jersey and Israeli companies. The foundation provides grants that promote research and development on novel technologies and encourage joint-development projects and risk-sharing. Sales of products developed through foundation-funded projects exceeds $7 million.

Fourtou To Receive USCIB Award
Jean-René Fourtou, chairman and chief executive of Vivendi Universal, will be the first non-U.S. recipient of a leading pro-trade group's top award for business leadership. The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) will present the award to Fourtou, the longtime Aventis chief who stepped in two years ago to help put Vivendi Universal back on its feet, during a gala dinner on October 12 at the United Nations in New York.

Citigroup Sells Stake in Fubon Financial Holding
Citigroup will sell approximately 70 million shares of Taiwan-based Fubon Financial Holding Co, a financial services company in Taiwan and in the region, or about .08% of Fubon's issued shares, and will likely divest itself of all or part of its remaining shares in the company. Citigroup currently holds 10.2% of Fubon shares. The decision ends a strategic alliance between the two companies that began in 2000, and results from a mutual decision to pursue opportunities in the property and casualty insurance sector separately.

Rich Products Announces Mexican Joint Venture
Buffalo-based Rich Products Corp., a family-owned baking products company and Lerma, Mexico-based Grupo Bimbo S.A. de C.V., the world's second-largest baker, have launched a joint venture to sell bakery products in frozen dough and fresh-baked formats throughout Mexico. Products produced by the joint venture company, Fripan S.A. de C.V., will be targeted to the premium end of the market spectrum and be distributed in restaurants, food service stores, and supermarkets.

Converse Technologies Licenses Server Technology Worldwide
Woodbury-based Converse Technologies, the world's largest supplier of software systems that enable network-based multimedia-enhanced communications services, has announced a licensing partnership agreement with NTT DoCoMo, Inc. to market the i-mode server in European and Asian markets and worldwide. The server, an enabling element of the i-mode service, has 43 million subscribers in Japan and Europe, and is used for information, entertainment, e-mail, messaging, and database services.

Port of Albany Establishes Container Pool
Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corporation, one of the world's largest ocean-going containerized fleets, has become the second major shipping company to establish a container pool at the Port of Albany, with financial assistance from the State. Access to Evergreen containers has reduced costs to shippers and increased traffic into Albany. Last November, China Ocean Shipping Company established a similar container pool, and both efforts are the result of increased demands for containerized barge service between Albany and Port Elizabeth, NJ.

ThinkGlobal Receives Award
ThinkGlobal Inc., a custom publishing and editorial services company, recently received an APEX 2004 publication excellence award for its ThinkGlobal international trade "newsfolios." ThinkGlobal publishes quarterly international trade newsletters in Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts and New York. The APEX 2004 Award for Publication Excellence recognizes excellence in publications work by professional communicators. The awards are based on excellence in graphic design, editorial content and the ability to achieve communications effectiveness.

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