Bridging Trade with Business and Cultures: Africa – Europe – Americas – Asia

Dr. Said El Mansour Cherkaoui​ – Berkeley, California, USA

Said El Mansour Cherkaoui Selected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Representing 25 U.S. Companies at Tradeshows in Morocco

Said El Mansour Cherkaoui Invited by China Government

Moves, contributions and direct participations to facilitate to the signing of the U.S. – Morocco Free Trade Agreement, Said El Mansour Cherkaoui Represented at Casablanca American Cafe Tradeshows organized in Morocco by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Morocco. Dr. Cherkaoui represented 25 U.S. Food and Equipment Companies in this international event attended by companies from all over the United States of America.

Language of International Trade, Expression of Global Business and Culture of Investment in Humanity: Said El Mansour Cherkaoui Stories and Narratives around the World

De Doukkala, Mazagan, El Jadida, Morocco en passant par la France et l’Europe et les Etats Unis de l’Amérique et tout cela juste pour former et conseiller des Exécutives et des Hauts Responsables de la Californie et de la Chine.

Dr. Said El Mansour Cherkaoui and the World Tour:

From Doukkala, Mazagan and El Jadida, Morocco to France, Europe and the USA and all that for just to provide international training and advices to Executives and High Ranking Officials in California and China. 

Shared with Your friends and Said El Mansour’s friends

Said El Mansour Cherkaoui

Glimpse at my US based Contributions in California International Trade and International Business Development with the CITD

How I trusted and worked more than hard to correct an image of distortion caused by international conflictual interests and how I tried without becoming tired to do the best of the best to build bridges and exchanges between cultures and personalities for the sake to create understanding, mutual benefits, while I forget even my own comfort and rewards at every level of material significance and I became driven by hopes of better happening and prayers that my own children will not be witnesses or victims to the same I have endured.

Beside this, I consider myself one among the first Founders of the Center of International Trade Development when these Centers were just 4 scattered between San Diego and Berkeley and passing by Merced. I started working at the CITD and the EBSBDC (East Bay Small Business Development Center, the first in California) in 1993-94, I became responsible for the transfer of the CITD from Berkeley to Oakland and when Ms. Selma Taylor left in 1996 the CITD and the EBSBD, I followed her exit, new team took over that frankly, they did not know what it takes to handle or organize neither international venture or operation or to develop a small business enterprise. The new Director was an accountant and Priest, so he knew how to fill up forms and preach and was an old friend of the top brass of the local elite. More to come on opportune time and appropriate situation.

A new Director of the CITD later on fut appointed and I was his mentor when he started to work within the San Francisco World Trade Center. He needed help from me to organize the international of foreign delegations and create training programs the CITD and accredited training seminars for foreign executives. In 2001, I started again working with the now called EBCITD [East Bay Center for International Trade Development].

During this time, I initiated and organized one of the largest international conference on Africa in the entire history of California that took place in the beautiful environment of Claremont Hotel with the participation of all the Experts on Africa within the US Department of Commerce and the related agencies, international banks, including the African Development Bank, US organizations working on Africa and other business and academic institutions focusing on Africa. Few years later that we could count in months, this new Director was no more working with the EBCITD. Once again, Dr. Cherkaoui is on the run and few month later, this New Director use to be the Dean of Instruction at Vista Community College where the EBCITD was moved.

This Dean of Instruction, I met with him several times while he was the Dean given my role in organizing and providing training programs to Foreign delegates and Executives and he was effectively the Dean who authorized the final accreditation at the Vista Community College. So now I am contacted by this Dean who became Director of EBCITD and proposed to me to come to help him to manage the EBCITD. Again, as clearinghouse and mobile memory of the Center of International Trade Development, I am asked to provide life to this organization.

I managed the EBCITD, provided consulting services, taught courses to replace absent instructors at Vista Community College, organized training programs, hired interns from California and internationally, organized meeting and collaboration within the College, with the Students of International Trade and with all the representatives of business, professional organisations within North California, participated in writing federal grants, writing the year long plan and maintaining current all the inputs needed for activities and updating the required reports for the State of California. Furthermore, I represented EBCITD in multiples conferences and promotional events to recruit clients and establish working relationship with other similar groups and institutions.

Morocco, California and United States of America

I represented the EBCITD and 25 US and Californian Food companies in the American Cafe organized by the United State Food and Drug Administration, the US State Department and US Embassy in Morocco and spent more than a month developing relationship with companies and officials in Morocco and Tunisia. I wanted to facilitate the negotiations and the signing of the Free Trade Agreement that were initiated at this time by participating in the American Cafe held at Casablanca, see related pictures at the end of this text. I hired 2 assistants locally and paid all the expenses of my stay in Morocco from my own money.

I was driven by the spirit of my ancestors and by the dreams of my children, I was the link and the bridge between the history and the preparation of the future generations through my own little making and connecting two countries who had the longest and unbroken treaty of friendship since the time of the independence of the U.S. At my level, I was facilitating the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between the United States of America and the first country who recognized the independence of the United States, Morocco and this at the American Cafe at Casablanca, Morocco. This is my own expression: Play it again Uncle Sam to mimic Boggard in the fabulous love story in the movie “Casablanca” and all this happen in Casablanca. The return of a Moor to his land to develop trade relations with the land of his Children and that is Dr. Said El Mansour Cherkaoui’s movie and destiny.

As we say in Islamic thoughts: “Seek knowledge even if it is in China” this was said during the time when people have to walk to travel to distant destination.

In fact, to make story shorter, the Executive Chinese who invited us to China wanted Dr. Said El Mansour Cherkaoui to be the one who came to visit them in their country. Many others have tried to slide their names because I have give them some courses to teach to the same delegation and wanted to take advantage of such introduction to be invited to China but the officials and executives of Guizhou and Guiyang insisted to communicate and negotiate only with the presence of Dr. Said El Mansour Cherkaoui.

In fact, I started the negotiations and I conducted all the training in China during our visit. But at certain point of the evolution of the negotiation for the signing of the contract, this New Director who was also the Dean of Instruction failed to conclude and to succeed in signing a contract with the same Chinese Officials because at the last moment, he put me on the side and wanted to have his own way to deal with the Chinese negotiating team while we were in China. He did not know my relation with them and did not understand how to smooth the talk and the offers and had no alternatives to present in terms of counter offer and give and take approach. He was more interested in having a profit on the paper than on the development of bilateral and mutual benefits for our organization, region and individually speaking. He wanted to reach a deal based on personal gain only; yes indeed. He told that when we were in Shanghai. I was really upside down that I refuse to go to attend an opera play that the same chinese official offered us to visit as part of our program.

I had no reason to celebrate any more. It was a premonition for more reason to lose completely and definitely the sense and the meaning of celebration.

Definitely, I was never paid for the majority work I did for the EBCITD during the tenure of this Dean transformed in a new Director. I was given here and there, some change to keep me going and hoping to be paid for the rest and thanks to this strategy of just drops of water for not to extinct completely my breath, I kept producing until I lost my house. Yes, indeed, this time is the negotiation for the roof on the top of the head of my family and myself that is gone forever and with no family around where to to at least protect the heads of my little girls and my spouse.

Now we go back to the picture comments:

Representing and Managing the CITD, the East Bay Center for International Trade Development, Berkeley in the United States and in China.

CITD and EBCITD Center for International Trade Development, I use to manage and I provided consulting services at this center, that I represented in Morocco and went to provide training and build relationship with Chinese officials and Executives in China.

This picture during an event I organized as collaboration with the Chambers of Commerce in the Bay Area. I even designed the brochure and the folder I am holding in my hand which has all the training and other promotional material of the EBCITD.

In another picture, I am conducting negotiation with Executives in China. In fact, I organized one of the first business and trade visit by a Chinese Delegation in California in 1995 with Vice-Mayor of Beijing and a second delegation from Yunnan.

With the pictures holding files and near the sign of the Center for International Trade Development, I even prepared these flyers too, inside outside and conducted the training and this is just one of them, hundreds of training sessions and seminars as well as conferences I have conducted in this Bay Area and with East Bay Center for International Trade and before CITD and East Bay Small Business Development and this without talking or taking in consideration the almost 20 years of teaching executive seminars, graduate courses and training programs at various universities and colleges around California and elsewhere.

N.B.: These are just the tip of the Iceberg of my entire work and involvement in the field of business, academic and humanitarian work for the benefit of California and the rest of the World: European, Africa, Latin American and Asian countries.

Additional Documents and References:

Certificate for International Trade and Seminars conducted by Dr. Said El Mansour Cherkaoui

I have even designed and prepared these flyers too, inside outside and conducted the courses and the training and these are just one of hundreds of seminars, courses, training sessions and conferences I have conducted in this Bay Area of San Francisco with East Bay Center for International Trade (EBCITD) and before with the CITD and East Bay Small Business Development as well as other professional and business representatives organizations and this without talking or taking in consideration my almost 20 years of teaching courses and classes around California and elsewhere and the training I provided in foreign countries and to foreign delegations (France, Russia, Vietnam, India, Brazil, China, Sub-Saharan Africa, Morocco, Mexico and Vietnam) visiting the United States of America and California.

Source: https://goo.gl/wREULi

Certificate for International Trade and Seminars conducted by Dr. Said El Mansour Cherkaoui

I have even designed and prepared these flyers too, inside outside and conducted the courses and the training and these are just one of hundreds of seminars, courses, training sessions and conferences I have conducted in this Bay Area of San Francisco with East Bay Center for International Trade (EBCITD) and before with the CITD and East Bay Small Business Development as well as other professional and business representatives organizations and this without talking or taking in consideration my almost 20 years of teaching courses and classes around California and elsewhere and the training I provided in foreign countries and to foreign delegations (France, Russia, Vietnam, India, Brazil, China, Sub-Saharan Africa, Morocco, Mexico and Vietnam) visiting the United States of America and California.

Dr. Said El Mansour Cherkaoui
Berkeley, California, USA from 05/12/2006 to 11/18/2006 

Version English – Français – Arabique

International Trade Certificate

EBCITD and Berkeley City College and Workforce Development Program

Conducted by Dr. Said El Mansour Cherkaoui

Berkeley, California, USA from 05/12/2006 to 11/18/2006

I have even designed and prepared these flyers too, inside outside and conducted the courses and the training and these are just one of hundreds of seminars, courses, training sessions and conferences I have conducted in this Bay Area of San Francisco with East Bay Center for International Trade (EBCITD) and before with the CITD and East Bay Small Business Development as well as other professional and business representatives organizations.

This set of work I have developed and established my reputation here at certain point of my professional drive as Mr. International Trade and no event that take place in the Bay Area of San Francisco and addressing international topic or subject could not be organized without my participation.

In fact, a prominent Californian person, Ms. Sunne Wright McPeak actually President and CEO of California Emerging Technology Fund who called me and addressed me as Mr. International Trade during the time when the regretted Mr. Ronald Brown who was the United States Secretary of Commerce during Clinton Presidency and who came to visit the Bay Area of San Francisco and the subsequent implementation of the program of Bay Trade with Mr. Olivera ad Jose Duenas as the Directors, two spaniards – Latinos, Bienvenido Amigos de Amigos e Hasta La Vista Amigo Extranjero.

Source: http://www.cetfund.org/aboutus/board/McPeak-Sunne

The aforementioned International Workshops are just the peak of the Atlas Mountains in California given the fact that I have spent almost 20 years teaching Executives and Doctoral Seminars, Graduate and undergraduate courses and training classes around California and elsewhere. I have also organized and provided guidelines, build plans and strategies and conducted training in foreign countries and to foreign delegations (France, Russia, Vietnam, India, Brazil, China, Sub-Saharan Africa, Morocco, Mexico and Vietnam) visiting the United States of America and California.