IIUSA Hosts Successful EB-5 Market Exchange

Association’s fourth annual international event was held October 22-24

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) November 07, 2014

“We are proud of the forum’s established history of bringing together IIUSA members and a host of industry stakeholders, to learn about new opportunities and reaffirm the industry’s commitment to due diligence and best practices”

The Association to Invest in the USA (IIUSA), the national not-for-profit industry trade association for the EB-5 Regional Center Program (the “program”), held its 4th annual EB-5 Market Exchange in San Francisco, Calif. last month to great success. International investment and economic development professionals from around the globe gathered for three days of networking and discussion on infrastructure and development opportunities in the U.S.

Over 500 conference attendees joined over 25 panels, where more than 80 leading experts – including special guests former Ambassador to China Gary Locke, Congressman Aaron Schock (IL-18), former San Francisco Mayor and former Speaker of the California state legislature Willie L. Brown, Jr., and Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the State Department’s Visa Control and Reporting Division – spoke on trending topics in immigration and investment.

“IIUSA is thrilled to once again see such robust attendance for our Economic Development Forum,” said IIUSA Executive Director Peter Joseph. “Members of the EB-5 community came together to share their experiences with the program and help map out the best direction forward. We are proud of the forum’s established history of bringing together IIUSA members and a host of industry stakeholders, to learn about new opportunities and reaffirm the industry’s commitment to due diligence and best practices for this complex and valuable program.”

This year’s forum also featured an I-829 approval award ceremony spotlighting 17 IIUSA member Regional Centers whose investors received their permanent residency visas by demonstrating that their investments created or saved at least 10 U.S. jobs. A comprehensive peer-reviewed economic study found that during fiscal year 2012, investments made through the EB-5 program contributed $3.39 billion to U.S. GDP and supported over 42,000 U.S. jobs.

One of the major accomplishments achieved at the 2014 Market Exchange was in building momentum among EB-5 stakeholders to advocate for permanent authorization of the Program. Many of the event’s attendees answered IIUSA’s legislative call to action by sending over 300 letters to their Congressional representatives in support of the Program and encouraging permanent authorization.

IIUSA and its members will continue their work toward this goal at the Association’s upcoming Advocacy Conference, which will be held in Washington, D.C. on April 12-14, 2015.

Conference attendees and interested persons can access conference materials, presentations and more details from the week’s events on the EB-5 Market Exchange mobile app.