Money-raising plan includes Japanese ads

TOKYO – With California nearly broke, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is touting a money-making idea to help the state reopen its Tokyo trade office: starring in a Japanese commercial.

While leading a four-day trade mission here, Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he may accept one of the many multimillion-dollar offers he receives to make commercials for Japanese television. But instead of pocketing the money, he would plow it into an office that would push California’s business interests.

Schwarzenegger is a familiar figure to the Japanese, having appeared in several television ads while a movie star. Their nickname for him is “Schwa-chan,” with the last part meant to convey the sort of affection a parent feels for a child. As part of California’s current tourism and marketing campaign, Schwarzenegger is displayed on a towering billboard near the Tokyo hotel where much of the California delegation is staying. Clusters of passing Japanese stop briefly to gawk at the image.

In a budget-cutting move last year, the state closed all 12 of its overseas trade offices. Money is still so tight that California cannot afford to reopen the offices without the sort of private donation he envisions, the governor said.

Schwarzenegger described how the plan would work in a 10-minute interview with California reporters after taping a separate interview with the Tokyo Broadcast System for a nightly news show that reaches more than 15 million people.

He would “do a quick spot and make a few million dollars and take that money and open up an office and not have to worry about our budget,” Schwarzenegger said. “That’s really my mission. … Maybe in the next six months I will be able to accomplish that. … It’s quick money. You work for a day and the trade office opens. You have enough money for several years. That’s really the way to go.”

Schwarzenegger’s proposal renews a debate about the value of trade offices. Critics contend that they serve little purpose other than rewarding political supporters.

The state’s dozen trade offices were closed after an Orange County Register report in May 2003 that the offices did not deserve credit – which they claimed – for increases in exports and investment. In many cases, the offices boasted of nonexistent business deals.

In the budget bill approved a few months later, lawmakers voted to eliminate the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency, which oversaw the offices. The closures seemed to have no effect on trade.