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Kantor Wraps Whirlwind Bosnia Trade Mission By Kurt Schork
Kantor, on a three-day visit to Bosnia and Croatia, announced the signing of a bilateral agreement between Bosnia and the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). He said the agreement would open the way for project finance and political risk insurance for U.S. companies seeking to do business in Bosnia. The commerce secretary also delivered $2.76 million in technical assistance and grants to Bosnia to help train air traffic controllers and to provide engineering support for transport and telecommunications projects.
Kantor's trade mission continued the work begun by his late predecessor, Ron Brown, in April. A U.S. air force airliner carrying Brown and a large business delegation crashed into a mountainside near Dubrovnik, Croatia, in poor weather killing all 34 people on board. "We are here as part of President Clinton's continued strong commitment to the success of the Dayton peace accords and the restoration of hope and opportunity for the people of Bosnia and the region as a whole," Kantor said upon landing.
Asked if he and his party experienced any misgivings given the April accident and Friday's poor weather, he responded: "Was there emotion? Yes, there was emotion. But there was no trepidation. Just determination to get on with the job." Kantor said the U.S. government was determined to use its commerical clout to help knit Bosnia back together as a multi- ethnic democracy and he cited new U.S. project finance for key roads and railroads as proof of that commitment.
When he was told British businessmen visiting Bosnia to investigate investment opportunities said the country's problems were more obvious than its opportunities, Kantor responded with the American boosterism that goes with his job. "We're Americans and we always think there are more opportunities than problems. That's what distingusishes us from some of our competitors," the Commerce Secretary said. "We do see opportunities, but they're long-term, let's be honest."
Representatives of 18 U.S. companies who together boast $65 billion in annual revenues and 410,000 employees accompained Kantor on his tour, which continued from Sarajevo by air to the northern Bosnian city of Tuzla.
U.S. officials said Kantor and the business delegation were travelling in the same Boeing 707 which carried U.S. President John Kennedy to Dallas in 1963 and flew his body back to Washington after he was assasinated. The plane is scheduled to be retired and displayed in 1998 at the U.S. Air Force Museum at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton Ohio where the peace agreement which ended the 43-month Bosnian war was initialled last year.
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SARAJEVO, JULY 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor and a top-level delegation of U.S. businessmen wrapped up a whirlwind trade mission to Sarajevo on Friday after fog over the city delayed their arrival flight for five hours.
Berserkistan, July 10 · Kantor Resumes Brown’s Trade Mission Today
Berserkistan, June 4 · Kantor to Bosnia on Trade Mission
Berserkistan, Apr 4 · Bodies Recovered from Ron Brown's Plane
Berserkistan, Apr 3 · Passenger List for Brown's Plane
Berserkistan, Apr 3 · Plane Was Military Version of Boeing 737
US COMMERCE DEPARTMENT
Bosnian/Balkan Reconstruction U.S. Department of Commerce
Mickey Kantor Profile
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