>Click to enlarge photo  Accompanied by Florida intendant Juan Giachetto, ambassador and Mrs. Baxter visited Piedra Alta, a rock overlooking the Santa Lucia Chico river which is thought to be the spot where in 1825 Uruguay's independence was declared. >Click to enlarge photo  >Click to enlarge photo  >Click to enlarge photo  >Click to enlarge photo  Visit to San Cono's Chapel in Florida. Construction of the chapel began in 1883. Saint Cono is the nation’s patron saint of sports. >Click to enlarge photo  >Click to enlarge photo  Visiting Frigorifico Florida. Visiting Conaprole. >Click to enlarge photo  >Click to enlarge photo  During his visit to the Conaprole plant, ambassador Baxter learns about the computerized data systems that control the pasteurization and packaging processes. Ambassador and Mrs. Baxter later received a sample of the company's most popular confection, jars of "dulce de leche" or milk caramel spread. >Click to enlarge photo  >Click to enlarge photo  Ambassador Baxter and Intendat Giachetto exchange gifts. >Click to enlarge photo  >Click to enlarge photo  Visit to the Cathedral of Florida which houses the Virgin of the Thirty-Three. Every year, a pilgrimage commemorates the founding of Uruguay.

Traditionally known for its milk production, the department of Florida could rebrand itself as Uruguay’s innovation center, where technology is playing a leading role in the region’s major industries and in its government’s mission, according to U.S. Ambassador Frank E. Baxter.

The ambassador met with Florida’s intendant, Juan Giachetto, and toured Florida's meat packing plant Frigorifico Florida Clademar and the Conaprole dairy products plant in the department’s capital on Sept. 28. He also visited the site where Uruguay’s independence was declared and two of the city’s religious centers.

The main focus of the trip was to observe Florida’s commitment to implementing technology into its industries and educational system.

“Global investors should think of Uruguay not as a small market but as a port of entry and a technology center for the region,” Amb. Baxter said, adding that a national innovation conference in March or April of 2008 will spur foreign investors to begin thinking of Uruguay – and Florida – as an innovation center for the Southern Cone.

He also encouraged Intendant Giachetto to continue his plans of making Florida a digital capital that educates its young people in the information sciences, noting that in this digital age, it is possible to “export your brain without exporting your body” through use of the internet. “Florida as a digital center is a way for Uruguayans to stay at home and do business with the world,” ambassador Baxter said during a press conference at the intendant’s office, where he addressed questions from the local media and from a bilingual student delegation from Florida High School.

Ambassador Baxter commended Giachetto for actively marketing Florida’s beef and milk industries to foreign investors from New Zealand and Angola, and for training workers in advanced technological skills.

The ambassadorial delegation visited meat processing and packaging plant Frigorifico Florida, an Angolan-owned company, where they observed the plant’s high-tech operations. General manager Rodrigo Ponce de Leon explained that the plant was the first frigorifico to incorporate “black boxes,” or data transmission systems, into every stage of the meat packing process. The boxes share information about temperature, weight, quality and other factors among plant employees and administration at each step in the process. Mr. Ponce de Leon said the company is open to school groups wishing to tour the plant to learn how computers operate in an industrial setting.

A tour of Conaprole’s dairy products plant led by plant manager Milton Sardella revealed a sophisticated system of mechanized pasteurization and packaging processes. The plant relies on computerized data systems, which measure data about the milk, butter, oil, dulce de leche (milk caramel spread) and other dairy products produced and packaged at the facility. Conaprole’s products are exported to the United States, Canada, Europe and throughout Latin America. A Chinese delegation recently visited the plant in Florida to learn about its advanced technology systems.

Even while implementing high technology into its industries, Florida strives to preserve its tradition and celebrates its unique history as the birth site of Uruguayan independence, Mr. Giachetto said during a visit to Piedra Alta, a rock overlooking the Santa Lucia Chico river which is thought to be the spot where independence was declared in 1825. Ambassador Baxter’s delegation also visited Florida’s historic cathedral, as well as the chapel of San Cono, whose patron saint is heralded for bestowing good luck on visitors. Intendant Giachetto invited the ambassador to attend the department’s 200th anniversary celebration in 2009.

Ambassador Baxter said that, overall, he was impressed with Florida’s efforts to reach out to international investors, while simultaneously preserving the department’s traditional industries and “looking to the future and the digital age.” He said he would present Florida’s advantages in agriculture and in technological innovation to potential U.S. investors.

More information on Florida is available, in Spanish, on the Department of Florida's official Website.

The ambassador’s visit to Florida was one of 19 he plans to make to every department in Uruguay during his term.

Leigh Miller
Staff Writer / GlobalAtlanta.com

 
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