Among the Arkansas entities with representatives in Cuba this week: Riceland Foods Inc. of Stuttgart, Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale, Simmons Foods Inc. of Siloam Springs (Mark Simmons), Hanna’s Candles of Fayetteville, the Arkansas World Trade Center (Dan Hendrix) and the University of Arkansas (Donald Bobbitt).
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US farm lobbyists from Arkansas and North Carolina are visiting Cuba to explore business opportunities and stake out positions in the hopes that the USA trade embargo will be lifted and the countries will continue expanding their formal links. Andrew Cuomo led a similar delegation in April.
Hutchinson supported the embargo in Congress and later enforced it as undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
They are all there to build a strong trade relationship between Arkansas and Cuba.
“What underscored the opportunity is a requirement for patience”, he said. “Let’s start with the extension of credit opportunities to allow businesses to compete, and let’s see the response of the government in Cuba”. John Boozman, R-Ark., to allow goods to be sold to Cuba on credit cleared a Senate committee in July but has not come up for a vote on the Senate floor. Hutchinson said the Little Rock-based American Taekwondo Association has also expressed interest in holding a convention in Cuba.
Experts speculated it could have something to do with rice production in the state.
“So it’s got to be not only steps by the United States, but appropriate responses by the Cuban government”, Hutchinson said.
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“The first step in my judgment is to authorize credit sales to Cuba, and that would open up doors of opportunity for Arkansas products”, Hutchinson said.
