Charles Reade Welcoming Speech to
READE Latin America Grand Opening 7 October 2003
Distinguished guests from the Republic of Panama government and business community, US
Ambassador Linda Ellen Watt, members of the US Commercial Service in Panama, and fellow
officers of Reade Advanced Materials, may I welcome you to the Grand Opening of the Reade
Latin America Export Sales Office here at the Port of Balboa. We are truly honored that
you have joined us for this important occasion.
The Reade specialty chemicals business was originally established in Wolverhampton,
England way back in 1773 where they manufactured pharmaceutical chemicals. My great
grandmother completely relocated the family business to New York City in 1881.
And now as the sixth generation I am honored to contribute our successful international
trade expertise toward expanding the value added industrial trade activity between North
and South America using the Republic of Panama as the strategic distribution point. As you
can see, we seem to make a large corporate expansion every 100 years.
While participating in the US Secretarial Trade Mission to Mexico in June 2002, l was
personally invited by Mr. Michael Haverty, the Chairman of the Kansas City Southern
Railroad to invest in your country and assist in expanding industrial trade activity
through your wet and dry canals. Mr. David Starling, the President of the Panama Canal
Railroad is with us this evening. Welcome Mr. Starling. Over the next ten years we look
forward to working very closely with Mr. Starling and his marketing team toward our mutual
trade objective and I will learn to speak Spanish!!.
We thank the Panamanian business community for your very welcoming hospitality since
Morgan & Morgan incorporated READE 12 months ago.
Special thanks go to the impressive legal staff at Morgan & Morgan led by Dr. Juan
David Morgan, our financial consultants at Avila, my Masonic brothers in Panama led by the
Homa family who own this historic building, the Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Donald Evans,
and the US Commercial Service in Panama led by Mr. Patrick Wall.
It is now my special honor to introduce our distinguished guest from the United States,
the Ambassador to the Republic of Panama, Linda Ellen Watt.
Ambassador Watt arrived in Panama on 13 December 2002 to assume her duties as the
United States Ambassador to the Republic of Panama. Ambassador Watt is a career member of
the Foreign Service, with the rank of Minister-Counselor. Prior to her nomination by
President George W. Bush on 27 June 2002, she served as Foreign Policy Advisor at U.S.
Southern Command in Miami, an assignment she took up in July of 2001.
Welcome Ambassador Watt. ------------------------------------------------
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