The

Peachtree City Rotary Club had its annual International

Appreciation Luncheon last week with representatives from

several foreign countries in attendance as well as a

number of state officials.

Randy

Cardoza, commissioner of the Georgia Department of

Industry, Trade and Tourism, was the keynote speaker for

the meeting at the Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center,

where the crowd included members of the consular corps

from Canada, Great Britain, Japan and Germany, as well as

most of the Georgia Foreign Trade Zone board.

One of the

purposes of the event was to recognize the large amount

of foreign participation in the Peachtree City business

community, especially in the industrial park, which is

now an official Foreign Trade Zone. Representatives of

many of those companies, such as Husky, Siemens, TDK and

Panasonic, were on hand.

Cardoza

used his remarks to emphasize the foreign business

presence throughout the state, saying that 47 countries

are currently represented in Georgia, with 16 official

consuls and a number of honorary consuls and trade

commissions. A total of 26 foreign chambers of commerce

are now situated in Atlanta, he said.

Fayette

County has an exceptionally large foreign contingent,

Cardoza said, with 23 facilities employing about 2,700

people.

Because

attracting foreign investment to Georgia is such a high

priority, Cardoza's department has offices with full-time

employees in Brussels and Tokyo, as well as an office in

Toronto and a contract office in Seoul.

International

trade in Georgia has continued to spread during the last

decade, as countries such as Brazil, China, Israel and

Malaysia have increased their presence here, Cardoza

said. State officials use knowledgeable people in those

countries to constantly strive for even more economic

development coming out of those regions.

Cardoza

congratulated Peachtree City and Fayette County for doing

a good job of attracting business, saying that the city's

"wonderful life-style" is known around the

United States.

"This

is known as a unique community," he said, "and

a great place to live and work."

Acknowledging

that Peachtree City recognizes the importance of its

international community, Cardoza closed his remarks by

saying that the city and its visitors make "a great

team."