Daylong Conference Focuses on International Trade : Exports: Garden Grove economic briefing draws 300 participants seeking tips on opportunities in changing global market.

GARDEN GROVE — For months, Kashi Gupta has watched his environmental consulting business slow as the recession drags on.

His company, AVS Professional Services in San Clemente, has done well in past years supplying its services to U.S. companies. But with the economic slowdown hurting his business, he believes he will either have to diversify or face financial losses later this year.

That’s why Gupta joined more than 300 participants at an economic briefing Friday to learn about export opportunities in the global market.

The daylong conference at a Garden Grove hotel covered a range of trade issues facing U.S. companies. The event was co-sponsored by Beckman Instruments, Deloitte & Touche, Disneyland, GTE California, the International Marketing Assn. of Orange County, Michael J. Christianson Inc., the Orange County Register and the Times Orange County Edition.

One of the hottest topics on people’s minds was the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement, which will lift trade barriers between the Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Jaime E. Zabludovsky Kuper, Mexico’s deputy chief trade negotiator and conference keynote speaker, said he expects serious discussions on the North American free trade area to begin late this month. He also stressed the benefits the free-trade pact could have for U.S. companies.

“Mexico has a natural tendency to look to the United States as a supplier of technology-intensive goods,” Zabludovsky said. “Out of every dollar that is generated in Mexico, 15 cents end up in imports from the United States.”

He added that many Orange County companies are well-positioned to provide Mexico with high-tech products as the country develops its infrastructure.

Zabludovsky’s visit could not come at a better time for Ramon F. Medina. His Anaheim company, Interstate Engineering, has tried unsuccessfully for a year to sell vacuum cleaners in Latin America, but couldn’t find the Mexican distributor it needed.

Frustrated by his lack of success, Medina decided to ask the Mexican trade official for a little advice Friday. Zabludovsky promised to send Medina a full list of household products distributors--assistance that the Anaheim businessman said made his trip to the conference worth the effort.