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VISIT TARGETS IMPROVED TRADE

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, March 28, 2008 11:15 PM CDT

Seeing what’s available and establishing trade relationships with Arkansas companies involved in food production brought a group of ambassadors from 11 African countries to Pine Bluff Friday morning.

“There are 53 countries in Africa, and 900,000,000 people, and even though it’s an agricultural continent, it still has to import much of its food,” said Ambassador Koby Koomson, formerly of Ghana, who organized the visit to the state.

“I lived in Arkansas from 1975 to 1984 and attended the University of Arkansas at Little Rock,” he said during a stop at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s aquaculture and fisheries facility.

He explained that while at UALR, he was involved in developing a business and finance center dealing with African trade, and viewed the visit to the state as “a way to give back.

“None of these people have ever been to Arkansas before and I wanted them to see first-hand the farms, fisheries, poultry producers, and the like, so they could establish relationships with them, and hopefully consider buying their products,” Koomson said.

He said he got the idea to bring the group to Arkansas after a visit to China last July.

“There were representatives from Ghana there buying fish to import back to their country, and I thought, if they go all the way to China to buy fish, why not buy it in Arkansas,” he said. “Especially considering that you really don’t know what might be in that fish from China.”

He also noted that the purchase in China “had to be paid for with a letter of credit, acceptable to the Chinese.”

In addition to visiting UAPB, the group toured the Tyson Foods plant in Pine Bluff before traveling to Stuttgart by bus where they were to visit Riceland Foods and Producers Rice Mill.

“The reception from the businesses and people here has been wonderful,” Koomson said. “They all see that developing good relationships can be beneficial for not only Pine Bluff, but the state of Arkansas.”

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