PINE BLUFF -- As economic development officials seek out new markets for Arkansas products and investments in Arkansas industry, a trade delegation headed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson and including Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston, turned its focus onto the United Arab Emirates and India in a recent trip abroad.
At a meeting Thursday in Pine Bluff, Preston briefed members of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission on the weeklong visit to the Middle East and South Asia. The trip was Hutchinson's first to the United Arab Emirates and India to promote economic development in Arkansas.
"The UAE was a new opportunity for us to learn," Preston said. "They don't grow much there besides oil."
Preston said the delegation wanted to explore trade options in the region to open new markets among oil-producing nations and to introduce business leaders there to investment opportunities in Arkansas.
"They've made all of this money from oil," he said, "but now they need to diversify investments with an eye to when the oil runs out."
Preston said the prime objective of the trip was to introduce the governor to business, finance, and industry leaders to get Arkansas on the radar of policymakers and business and industry leaders in the region.
"They've all heard of California and New York but they really aren't very familiar with anything that isn't situated on the east or west coasts," he said.
After stops in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Preston said the group headed to the Indian city of Mumbai.
In India, Preston said the group participated in three business conferences that he said generated interest in Arkansas as an investment opportunity.
"We've got about 45 businesses that have some kind of investment potential in Arkansas," he said.
Preston said a big selling point for investment in Arkansas is the lower cost of doing business, compared with other areas of the country, especially the east and west coast regions.
"Our message is that your dollar goes a little bit further in Arkansas," he said.
While in India, Preston said, the group engaged in what he has dubbed "basketball diplomacy" with some business leaders from the area.
"There were five of us and 30 of them who kept switching out," he said. "There was no air conditioning in the gym so it was pretty hot. I didn't realize that you actually sweat curry and it will burn your eyes if you aren't careful."
The basketball diplomacy, he said, is a tradition that he tries to carry on in every country he visits as a way of fostering camaraderie.
"From Cuba to Germany to Switzerland, China, Japan, and the Czech Republic," Preston said. "Everywhere we've been we try to get in a game of basketball."
Preston said that another icebreaker is the mention of Bentonville retailer Walmart, which, according to Fortune 500, is the world's largest company by revenue, and the largest private employer in the world.
"Everyone has heard of Walmart," Preston said. "Whether they've heard of Arkansas or not, everyone is familiar with Walmart. Sometimes they are really surprised when they find out Walmart is an Arkansas company. It gets their attention."
Arkansas exported $43.6 million in products to India in 2018, while it imported $251.6 million in products from India that year, according to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
In 2018, Arkansas exported $30.6 million in products to the United Arab Emirates, while the state imported $1.1 million in UAE products, according to the commission.
Preston said that on Nov. 2 he will leave on another trade mission led by Hutchinson to Japan and China and will return Nov. 9.
Business on 10/11/2019