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- 10/21/08: Remarks by Henrietta Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance at the White House Development Summit
- 10/08/08: Remarks by Henrietta Fore, USAID Administrator and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance at The President's Freedom Agenda
- 10/01/08: Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, at the Ceremony Marking the Full Operational Capacity of Africa Command (AFRICOM)
- 09/25/08: Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, at 2008 Millennium Development Goal Malaria Summit, New York - "U.S. Leadership in the Fight Against Malaria"
- 09/22/08: Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, at the White House Symposium on Advancing Global Literacy - "U.S. Commitment to Advancing Global Literacy"
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Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore
USAID Administrator and Director of Foreign Assistance
Kosovo Cluster Business Support Project Dedication Ceremony
Las Pallmas Greenhouse
Lipjan, Kosovo
May 17, 2008
KCBS Chief of Party, Martin Wood: Ladies and Gentlemen, good afternoon. My name is Martin Wood and I'm Chief of Party of the Kosovo Cluster Business Support Project. The USAID KCBS Project is honored by your presence here this afternoon, Mrs. Henrietta Fore.
Mrs. Fore is the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and Director of United States Foreign Assistance.
We are particularly pleased that you were able to be here at this dedication ceremony of the first automatic vegetable seedling machine in Kosovo.
KCBS partnered with the owner of Las Pallmas, Mr. Bucaj in introducing, for the first time, mass production of vegetable seedlings into Kosovo. USAID, through the KCBS project, funded the purchase of this automatic line. Las Pallmas themselves have invested in eight hundred meters of tables on which the seedlings are stored in trays, and also in two overhead automatic boom sprinkler systems, which will irrigate the seedlings.
The capacity of the nursery is now 1.3 million seedlings a year. Las Pallmas is targeting four hundred thousand for this first year.
The seedlings will now be produced at thirty to forty percent of the cost of producing them under current methods, and the seedlings will remain in their trays before transplanting for half the time that is required under current methods.
The project is creating five full-time jobs, and in the peak production season, it has the capacity to require up to ten additional seasonal jobs. The market for the product is approximately two hundred vegetable farmers within Kosovo, and Mr. Bucaj has already received expressions of interest from farmers in Macedonia for his product.
I think the project is the maximum demonstration of the USAID commitment to economic growth in Kosovo. It increases production capacity, it improves the quality of product and it has a potential to lead to export.
So, Mr. Bucaj, I would like to congratulate you on implementing this project and I wish you every success in its operation. Well done!
USAID Administrator and the Director of Foreign Assistance Henrietta Fore: Thank you very much, Thank you! (applause)
I am honored to be here. I believe strongly in small businesses as a way to generate prosperity for Kosovo. What is interesting in this process is that the seedlings will be less expensive, more available and they will grow more quickly. Thus, it creates employment for people who are growing these plants and want to sell the produce as well as employment here. Operating the machine and tending to the machine are all skills that can be used in the business sector.
I am proud to see another project that has involved USAID and assistance from the American people. We are committed to a supporting a strong future for Kosovo. But we want to get some plants growing here, so may I ask three things:
First, I come from a family business, so if you have any family here, would you have them raise their hands? (Family members raise their hands.) The spirit of entrepreneurship should follow through a whole family.
The second is that I have grown up in California in the United States, and we have very fertile farmland. So, may I ask what are we growing over here?
Mr. Bucaj, Owner of Las Pallmas: We will produce cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and cabbage.
USAID Administrator and the Director of Foreign Assistance Henrietta Fore: And my third request is that, I have a company, and we have machines. We make wire products. But, the care and the tending of the machine is a profession-it's a business, in and of itself, which is very important. So I'd love to look at your machine.
Mr. Bucaj: First allow me to ask you to push the "start"button with me.
USAID Administrator Fore: Yes! Good! (They start the machine.) (applause)
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