US foreign assistance helping make state rich

To the Editor,

Last week, Gov. McMaster announced that Volkswagen’s Scout Motors is investing $2 billion in South Carolina and creating 4,000 jobs.

The German automotive brand is just the latest in a series of high-profile international companies that are making new investments in our state – Germany’s BMW in the Upstate, Canada’s IKO Industries in the Midlands, and Turkey’s Kontrolmatik in the Lowcountry.

International trade has transformed the Palmetto State into an economic powerhouse, creating thousands of high-paying jobs.

But what South Carolinians might not know is that years before these countries were investing in us, the United States was investing in them through foreign assistance.

Often misunderstood, foreign assistance is the portion of the federal budget set aside to fund diplomacy, humanitarian aid, and international economic development.

Foreign assistance makes up around one percent of the federal budget, yet it saves millions of lives, creates diplomatic relations, and builds economic prosperity.

In fact, of our country’s 15 top trading partners, 11 were once recipients of foreign assistance.

South Carolina is directly benefiting from the long-term impact of strategic foreign assistance.

It’s time we South Carolinians understand foreign assistance and call on our leaders to embrace it as a powerful tool in our country’s diplomatic and economic strategy.

Ian Hunter Dyke
Taylors