ISHS Acta Horticulturae 269: Symposium on Tropical Fruit in International Trade
WELCOME AND CHARGE TO THE SYMPOSIUM ON TROPICAL FRUIT IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE |
| Author: | N.P. Kefford |
| Abstract:
I bring you a threefold welcome to the Symposium on Tropical Fruit in International Trade. First, I welcome you to Hawaii on behalf of Governor John D. Waihee, III, who is most interested in your topic because he sponsored a Congress on Hawaii's International Role in November 1988. That conference specifically urged that Hawaii's potential in agricultural, international trade be developed. Second, on behalf of President Albert J. Simone, I welcome you to the University of Hawaii which is an international university that gives particular emphasis to the tropical regions of the Pacific and Asia. Third, I personally welcome you to the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, within which the state's and the university's commitment to international tropical activities is fully expressed. You are especially welcome to our college because we need your expertise to help us solve the many problems that constrain not only Hawaii's international trade but also its trade with other states of this nation, all of which are at least 2,500 miles away. Therefore, there are many reasons for me to thank and congratulate the organizing committee and its convenor, Dr. Robert E. Paull, for attracting a talented and experienced group of participants representing the full spectrum of scientific fields, production and marketing areas, and species of tropical fruits. When Dr. Paull told me two years ago that he was organizing a symposium, I was suspicious because the word "symposium" has an interesting etymological origin. The word is a combination of two roots--one means together and the other means to drink. Therefore, "symposium" means drinking together or in other words a symposium is a drinking party. Indeed my dictionary gives as one meaning: a convivial gathering for drink, music, and intellectual discussion. I have been asked to provide charges to this symposium, and my first charge is that you maintain a reasonable balance between the drink, the music, and the intellectual discussion. To start this symposium in the right direction, permit me to determine the scope of capabilities for intellectual discussion that have been drawn to the topic- -"tropical fruits in international trade." The words of the topic can help identify your individual skills. I ask you to relate your interests to one word in the title. Look at the title and decide on the word with which you most closely identify. Choose just one word and that word should be the one that best represents how you can contribute to this symposium. If you find that you | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
