January 30, 2003

More than 100 U.S. companies, trade associations and regional government organizations will attend the 2003 U.S.-Cuba Business Conference, which is being held in Cancun, Mexico and Havana Feb. 17-19. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) will be a keynote speaker, addressing the advantages of expanded trade with Cuba. The newly elected lieutenant governor of Kansas, John Moore will also participate in the conference.

Recent additions to the roster of attendees include American Farm Bureau Federation, Archer Daniel Midland (ADM), NorthHarvest Bean Growers, Port of Houston Authority, Wm Wrigley Company, Sun-Maid Growers of California, Bryan Foods, Columbia Coastal and the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Farm Bureaus from Arkansas, Texas, Nebraska and Illinois have also announced their participation in the Cancun Conference.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture, led by Commissioner Tommy Irvin, joins the list of sponsoring and exhibiting organizations. Others include the Port of Galveston, Caterpillar, the Arkansas Farm Bureau, the Texas Farm Bureau, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Belgioioso Cheese, Alamar Associates, Americans for Humanitarian Trade with Cuba, U.S.-Cuba Trade Association, GIC Group, Patton Boggs LLP, World Development Federation and Site Selection Magazine.

Major United States ports attending the conference include the Port of Galveston, Georgia Ports Authority, Port of Beaumont, Port of Corpus Christi, Port of Houston Authority, Port of Lake Charles and the Port of Manatee.

The U.S.-Cuba Trade Association and Alimport, the Cuban government's purchasing organization, are cooperating on the conference. Raul de la Nuez, Cuban minister of foreign trade, and Pedro Alvarez, chairman of Alimport, will head a delegation of senior Cuban commerce officials, product specialists, and buyers to the conference.

Following the first business conference in Cancun, Mexico last January, the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association was created in an effort to establish relationships between U.S. companies and commercial entities in Cuba. The U.S.-Cuba Business Conference, to be held in Cancun, Mexico and Havana, Cuba, Feb.17-19, is the third of a series of conferences that will highlight agricultural, wood and medical suppliers and products to Cuba.

To register for the U.S.-Cuba Business Conference, go to www.wdsweb.org, or contact Eleanor D. Estacio in Georgia, 770-446-6996, eleanor.estacio@conway.com.