!['@[364659709914:274:Overseas Private Investment Corporation] offers innovative financial and insurance products to help businesses invest in emerging markets. These include medium- to long-term financing through direct loans and loan guaranties to eligible investment projects when conventional institutions are unable to lend. To learn more about OPIC, and to learn how OPIC can support your business, visit the blog post here: http://1.usa.gov/1nsEK5J'](https://web.archive.org./web/20160214220313im_/https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-0/s160x160/12661787_10154125528727638_7004202738461363010_n.jpg?oh=2296da967e60395b4fb0f6037e7c2794&oe=5766BD1C)
Expressing one’s love to another is a celebrated custom on Valentine’s Day. Sweethearts and family members present gifts to one another, such as cards, candy, flowers and other symbols of affection. Opinions differ as to who was the original Valentine, but the most popular theory is that he was a clergyman who was executed for secretly marrying couples in ancient Rome. In A.D. 496, Pope Gelasius I declared Feb. 14 as Valentine Day. Esther Howland, a native of Massachusetts, is given credit for selling the first mass-produced valentine cards in the 1840s. The spirit continues today with even young children exchanging valentine’s cards with their fellow classmates.Following are a some key statistics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau in recognition of Valentine's Day. http://1.usa.gov/1PrqWSM
With a rapidly urbanizing population and burgeoning water needs, India’s cities are home to some of the most complicated water challenges on Earth. One-third of India’s 1.2 billion people currently live in the country’s main cities and over the next 40 years, India's population is expected to continue to grow by nearly half a billion. In the next two decades alone, 225 million more people will be living in Indian cities. The water required to serve this population today is expected to grow by approximately 200%. http://1.usa.gov/1Rt5mQq
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of joining more than one hundred reporters at the Hannover Exhibition Center in Germany for the Press Preview for Hannover Messe 2016. Roughly 40 companies presented their latest products and innovations to representatives of media outlets from all over the world. Journalists were not only eager to learn about new, cutting-edge technology, but also wanted to know what it means exactly for the United States to be the Partner Country for the world’s leading trade fair for industrial technology. http://1.usa.gov/1o3rZzF
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews participated yesterday in an interactive tour at IBM’s Customer Experience Center in Delhi as part of this week’s Smart Cities Infrastructure Business Development trade mission. The Customer Service Center uses interactive LED displays and touch-screen technology to showcase its various urban infrastructure solutions from around the world. Joined by Director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency Lee Zak and Vice President of Global Business Development at the Export-Import Bank Ray Ellis, Deputy Secretary Andrews had the opportunity to learn more about IBM’s smart city projects in India. http://1.usa.gov/1Sg5P9s
