ST. THOMAS — Following an article on The Consortium criticizing the Mapp administration for lack of details about the executive branch’s trip to China, Government House issued a press release revealing the delegation’s full itinerary, along with the names of those in both government and the private sector accompanying Governor Kenneth Mapp, in what has been described as a trade mission that will see a “series of meetings to explore and develop economic opportunities for the territory.”
According to the release, issued this morning, the group’s first scheduled meeting is with Air China on Thursday morning, followed by an engagement with United States Ambassador to China Max Baucus and Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs Sarah Kemp at the U.S. Embassy. The day will conclude with a meeting with ArcLight executives.
Friday will be devoted to meetings with Sinopec – a partner in St. Croix’s Limetree Bay Terminal operation and Asia’s largest oil refiner. Sinopec enjoys great influence in China as the world’s second largest company in terms of revenue.
Over the weekend the group will travel south to the city of Ningbo – a major port and industrial hub in east China’s Zhejiang province. In Ningbo, meetings with Sinopec executives will continue and the group will visit one of Sinopec’s oil refineries and storage terminal facilities.
Meetings with Chinese hotel developers will dominate the final two days of the trip and the Winston & Strawn law firm will host a special reception for the delegation in the city of Shanghai on Tuesday. Representatives from the Fosun Group, which owns Club Med, will be among those in attendance.
Sixteen, including the territory’s governor, make up the complete Virgin Islands delegation. Others traveling from the local government are: Randolph Knight, the governor’s chief of staff; Rochelle Corneiro, deputy chief of staff; Emile Henderson III, Government House chief legal counsel; Valdamier Collens, Finance Department commissioner and Executive Director of the Public Finance Authority; Beverly Nicholson-Doty, Tourism commissioner; Joanne Bozzuto, P.F.A.’s director of Finance and Administration; Wayne Biggs, acting chief executive officer for the V.I. Economic Development Authority and security officers Charles Smith and Gregory Bennerson.
Also traveling with the delegation are: St. Croix Attorney Joel Holt and his wife, Jacqueline; Attorney Peter Hiebert of the Winston & Strawn law firm and his wife, Elaine Chan; Kimberly McCollum, president of the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce and Shaine Gaspard, Board Member from the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce.
Feature Image: Ningbo is a port city in East China’s Zhejiang province.
Tags: china, governor kenneth mapp, trade mission, us virgin islands
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