Monterey, Ca. - The 12th annual Global California conference will take place on March 24, 2016 at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) in Monterey, Ca. with a focus on the trade and investment opportunities that exist between the California business community and the 21 countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). APEC’s mission is to promote trade and investment among the 21 Asia-Pacific member economies, strengthen economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as make regional economic growth more inclusive and sustainable. New APEC initiatives include facilitating global supply chains; enhancing SME participation in global production chains; and promoting effective, non-discriminatory and market-driven innovation policy. Two-way trade between the APEC countries increases market presence and expands the operations of businesses of all sizes when exporting products, technologies and service.  The 12th Global California conference will also have discussions on the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement which is comprised of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.  The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal involving these 12 economies is said to be worth about $28 trillion in trade and investment. The TPP will cut tariffs, improve access to markets and set common ground on labor and environmental standards and intellectual property protections   However, some of the TPP opponents say that the U.S. initiative for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) reflects political and strategic considerations rather than purely economic motivation. The conference will also feature an innovative panel on California's 'blue economy' and how it can dovetail on the growth of an exploding 'green economy' in the APEC countries.  There will also be a panel on Monterey's 'language capital of the world' and the unique translation, interpretation, cultural and localization services it offers to the global marketplace, as well as a panel on the new 'Cyber-Silk Road' initiative that is now being paved between China and the U.S.  This panel of experts from both the private and public sectors will comment on how the new 'Cyber Silk Road' can be the mechanism for not only traditional trade and investment, but also to provide the means through the dawning of the new 'Single Window' system for streamlined trade facilitation and logistics which will position China and the U.S. as the leaders in online global trade. The event is organized by the Monterey Bay International Trade Association (MBITA), TradePort.org, and Brand Monterey Bay (BMB)   For more information visit http://mbita.org/gc2016/conference.html