222 Khanh Hoa Sugar Construction of Khanh Hoa Sugar, Recollections by Carter LaBarge (Sales Manager, Western States) “Western States was one of the first U.S. companies to negotiate a capital equipment contract in Vietnam after the war and the embargo were lifted. Opening Vietnam to the U.S. and to WSMC was very important to me, the U.S. Ambassador, Douglas “Pete” Peterson, all the folks at Commerce as well as our overall company strategy for equipment sales in Southeast Asia. During the process, we had a lot of cooperation from our folks in Washington. The Commerce Department helped sponsor a trade mission for several Vietnamese sugar officials as well as some Hanoi party members to come to the United States. We met at our facility and toured WSMC. We then visited Louisiana with the assistance of FC Schaffer and toured some U.S. sugar factories. Afterward, we went to Washington D.C. and met with Ambassador Le Van Bang, Vietnam’s first post war Ambassador to the United States. I had met him a few years prior, before he was made Ambassador and had kept in touch with him. He was equally interested in promoting cooperation between our two countries. Negotiations for the Batch centrifugal station took place on April 16, 1998 for 1.661 million dollars at the Khanh Hoa Sugar Mill offices near Nha Trang. Once awarded and the contracts signed, Western States built a batch station consisting of eight TITAN 1750 centrifugals. Then the Company enlisted Filomeno (Fil) “Menchi” Racelis from Redcell Corporation to dispatch Ed Luzong in 1999 to be present when all the containers arrived. That way, he made certain that nothing went missing and was received and signed for in good condition. Ed Luzong spent a lot of time at the mill site during construction. The batch station went up and the drives were installed. Everything went exactly as planned. left: The ceremony with our U.S. Consul General Ray was the ground breaking of the factory. Construction began on September 6, 1998. The date is written on the stone and on the entrance banner. The huge poster behind the groundbreaking stone confirms that this celebration is the start of construction. CHAPTER 14