[originaltext] Trade between countries is one of the most important economic

Trade between countries is one of the most important economic activities in the world today. The U.S. has many trading partners; one of the most important is Japan. The trade between the two countries amounts to several billion dollars a year. Many U.S. banks therefore have offices in Japan, particularly in Tokyo and Osaka, the largest cities. Jean McPherson is the manager of one of those branch banks in Tokyo.
    Jean majored in accounting and business administration in college. After graduation she got a job with a large New York bank. After two years in accounting, she was transferred to the loan department. Many of the loans which she was asked to consider involved international transactions. Some of them were so complicated that Jean felt she didn’t have a broad enough background to understand them.
    To get more experience, she asked for a transfer to the bank’s international department She became so expert in international finance that it became her career. When the bank decided to open a branch in Tokyo, Jean was selected to set it up and run it for the first few years. She has been in Tokyo for more than three years now.