Brown hoped to share U.S. economic strength with Balkans
April 4, 1996
Web posted at: 9:25 a.m. ESTFrom Correspondent John Holliman
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The mission that brought Ron Brown to the Balkans was a simple one: generate trade. It was a mission that took him to all of the corners of the globe.
President Clinton said Wednesday that Brown's mission in the former Yugoslavia was a mission of hope for the war-torn region and an opportunity for American business.
"He was so excited because he thought, along with these business leaders and the other very able people from the Commerce Department on this mission, that they would be able to use the power of the American economy to help the peace take hold in the Balkans," President Clinton told Commerce Department staff members Wednesday afternoon.
Brown, 54, along with business executives, was aboard the U.S. Air Force T-43 twin engine plane that crashed Wednesday in bad weather near the end of the runway at Dubrovnik Airport. There were no survivors.
The trip started in France with a meeting of the G-7, involving trade ministers from the seven top industrialized nations. But it moved into high gear when the Commerce Secretary arrived in Tuzla, where he met with American GIs serving in Bosnia.
He was accompanied by a group of chief executive officers of major U.S. companies who agreed to help restore Bosnia's buildings, its water and energy systems, its tourism, and even it banking system.
"The secretary was over there to look at the new civilian implementation possibilities that we (U.S.) are committed to through the Dayton agreement," said spokeswoman Jill Schukar with the National Security Council.
Aides at the Commerce Department say the secretary planned to help get up to $5 billion in contracts for American companies from a special international fund created by the Dayton peace accords.
"The purpose of the trip was to start our U.S. commercial presence in the region, to start economic reconstruction, to bring in U.S. companies in development of the region," said Maria Cardona with the Commerce Department.
Twelve executives were scheduled to go with Brown, but several didn't make the trip; among them, the chief of the Virginia high-tech defense firm Dyncorp. CEO Daniel Bannister's company just won an $18 million contract to provide support for the U.N.'s civilian police mission in Bosnia.
"If that country ever gets back on its feet again and we believe our company, among other companies, can help them in that development," Bannister had said.
The Commerce Department says that Brown has traveled to dozens of countries in the past two years, including Brazil, Argentina, Chile, China, India, the Middle East, and South Africa.
Brown's office says that the trips resulted in more than $40 million in U.S. business.
Related stories:
- Croatian doctor: No survivors in crash of U.S. plane
- Plane carrying U.S. commerce secretary crashes in Balkans
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