International dignitaries to tour Southwest Georgia

ATLANTA, April 20, 2007—More than 20 consular and trade officials from 17 countries will visit business and hospitality centers in the Southwest Georgia region April 25 – 27 during Georgia's 21st annual International VIP Tour. The tour will showcase destinations and businesses in the region, and provide Georgia's diplomatic corps opportunities to meet local officials in Albany, Cecil, Cordele, Fitzgerald, Thomasville, Tifton and Valdosta.

The tour, which combines travel destinations with prominent economic development projects and business communities, is the only event in the state that enables the bulk of Atlanta's diplomatic corps to meet local Georgians in their own communities.

'The VIP Tour is an excellent opportunity for Georgia's diplomatic and trade communities to connect with our local leaders, visit successful businesses and experience the unique sites that contribute to our robust economy,' said GDEcD Commissioner Ken Stewart. 'These first-hand experiences allow the consular corps to see what Georgia's business and cultural assets can offer their respective countries.'

The International VIP Tour is a unique, hybrid program that is mutually beneficial for both participants and host regions. Each year tour participants visit a part of the state they might not otherwise experience, in order to enhance their understanding of Georgia's amenities and culture and offer communities the opportunity to establish international business representatives.

This year's VIP Tour will include representatives of Albania, Australia, Botswana, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Switzerland and Taiwan.

'Our consular corps always looks forward to getting to know the people of Georgia through the VIP Tour,' said the Honorable Remedios Gomez Arnau, consul general for Mexico and dean of the consular corps. 'Visiting various areas of the state is the best way to find out new ways our countries can make social, political, economic and cultural connections with Georgia's communities.'

The VIP Tour will visit sites highlighting Southwest Georgia's diversity of manufacturing, educational, tourism, entertainment and cultural industries. The first stop on Wednesday, April 25, is Albany, which will include a tour of MacGregor Golf's headquarters and production facility as well as the Flint RiverQuarium. After an overnight stay at Lake Blackshear Resort in Crisp County, trip participants journey on Thursday to the Agrirama in Tifton to meet with local community and business leaders and tour the Agrirama.

The VIPs will then take a windshield tour of Fitzgerald on their way to East Central Technical College, where they will visit Millennium Technology Pointe, a regional economic development venture between the Joint Development Authorities of Ben Hill and Irwin counties. Following lunch at the college, the group will head to South Georgia Motorsports Park in Adel for an overview of the park's role in economic development in Cook County before overnighting at Melhana Plantation in Thomasville.

On Friday, April 27, the VIP Tour will go to Valdosta and visit SAFT, a multinational French company and world specialist in the design and manufacture of high-tech batteries. Final stops on the tour include Moody Air Force Base and a luncheon held by civic and business leaders of Valdosta-Lowndes County.

The Atlanta Consular Corps consists of consuls general, consuls, honorary consuls and trade commissioners representing 57 countries. Career officials are members of their country's foreign services while honorary officials are local residents appointed by foreign governments to perform consular duties. Each consulate offers diplomatic and business assistance to nationals from their respective countries.

Currently, 44 countries operate almost 1,600 internationally-owned facilities in Georgia. In 2006, international companies accounted for 36 percent – more than $2 billion – in new investment in the state.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a location for film, video and music projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development.