By Mark Holan. Staff Reporter. Mobile Register, March 02, 2000
Recent tensions between the United States and Cuba will not jeopardize a trip to the island nation later this month, Mobile Mayor Mike Dow said during a news conference Wednesday.
Relations between the two countries, which had begun to thaw, have frosted since controversy erupted over a refugee boy and a diplomat from the communist nation.
"The embargo and politics are just kind of sideshows," Dow said. "That kind of thing happens with other countries, too."
Dow and about a dozen Mobilians are scheduled to visit Cuba March 12-18. The group is trying to foster ties with Havana, which is one of Mobile's sister cities.
The mayor is flying to Nuremburg, Germany, this weekend on a personal visit to a sick friend.
Dow just returned to Mobile earlier this week after nine days in Singapore and Perth, Australia, where he met with aerospace and shipbuilding officials, respectively.
Dow said he touted Mobile's commitment to building an aviation training center at Brookley Field to officials at Singapore Aerospace, which has business ties with Mobile Aerospace Engineering Inc.
"They need more trained workers than we have produced in this community," Dow said. "There's no excuse for that. If we don't accommodate these companies, there are other communities that will take these resources from us."
When completed about 18 months from now, the training center could produce enough trained workers to double the «,200 to 1,400 work force at Mobile Aerospace, Dow said.
Dow also met with officials from Austal Limited, the Australian firm that has formed a partnership with Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc. to build ferries. The project is expected to create «,000 jobs in Mobile at a new shipyard across the Mobile River from the convention center.
In the past two years, Dow has visited China, Germany, Costa Rica, France, Korea, Japan, Brazil and Mexico. He plans a trip to Spain in May. He said such trips are important to encourage interest in the city and to "get in line" for international investment.
© 2000 Mobile Register. |