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Caribbean diplomats to converge on US heartland state of Iowa

Posted by CaribShout on August 11, 2009 at 7:20pm
WASHINGTON, USA (AFP) -- The corn-rich heartland US state of Iowa will look a bit like a United Nations summit come mid-August, as diplomats from some 70 countries, including at least six from the Caribbean, make an bi-annual pilgrimage meant to boost overseas trade. If past visits are any guide, Iowans might get to see a buttoned-up veteran of international relations get a rare opportunity to handle a live baby pig. Every two years, Republican Senator Charles Grassley invites each country with an embassy in Washington to send their ambassador and spouse, or another official, to experience his home state's hospitality first hand. The list of countries that have accepted an invitation to the August 17-21 tour, which aims to promote Iowa's products on world markets, runs from Angola to Zambia, according to Grassley's office. The envoys will tour the state by bus, visit major Iowa businesses like heavy-equipment maker John Deere, tour state-of-the-art research facilities, see a modern family farm, and enjoy cultural experiences like the state fair. "The idea is to have international diplomats know firsthand what Iowa has to offer," Grassley told reporters on a conference call Wednesday. "I've been told so many times how easy it is to learn a lot about New York and Los Angeles when on assignment here in a Washington embassy, and how this tour has given diplomats a valuable understanding of middle America, and particularly our great state of Iowa," he said. The diplomats will chow down on Iowa barbecue, eat freshly picked sweet corn and, in between each packed day, they will stay overnight with Iowan families and get home-cooked meals. Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade matter, began the bi-annual visits at the time of the US farm crisis in 1986 to boost the state's agricultural exports. Iowa, which has a population of about three million, is well known as a farm state but has a diverse economy -- the envoys will notably visit a global distribution center for the Firestone tire-maker. In one past visit, an Iowa farmer took the group into a barn to see a sow and her brood, and let those who wished pick up one of the piglets, Scott Stanzel, a former Grassley spokesman and Iowa native, told AFP. During a discussion of how the diplomats adjust to their new surroundings, Stanzel noted: "All Iowans have a pair of boots that they can walk in the mud with. Not so all ambassadors to Washington." Other embassies represented will include those of Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Republic of Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Georgia, Germany, and Guatemala. Hungary, India, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, South Korea, Laos, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, and Singapore are also sending someone. The list also groups Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad & Tobago, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vietnam, and Yemen. Iowa draws the national spotlight at least once every four years, when US presidential hopefuls converge on the state for its first-in-the-nation caucus. The state's long-ago status as a French territory is still evident in some of the place names, including its capital, Des Moines.

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