First U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition in Havana, Cuba, Confirmed for 26-30 September 2002 Announces PWN Exhibition International LLC.

Business Editors

The United States government-authorized U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition will be held in Havana, Cuba, from Thursday, 26 September 2002 through Monday, 30 September 2002 at the Palacio de Convenciones de la Habana (Pabexpo), announced PWN Exhibicon International LLC.

According to the government of Cuba, approximately 15,000 to 20,000 visitors are expected to attend the U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition; and Sunday will be open at no charge to all Cuban citizens.

Archer Daniels Midland Company (Illinois) is confirmed as a sponsor (with multiple booths) of the U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition. Riceland Foods (Arkansas), Radlo Foods (Massachusetts), Gold Kist (Georgia), Marsh International (Indiana), United Food and Pharmaceutical (Missouri), Perdue Farms (Maryland), Cargill (Minnesota), Boston Agrex (Massachusetts), PS International (North Carolina), Bushel 42 Pasta Company (North Dakota), North Dakota Farm Bureau (North Dakota), Reuven International USA (New Jersey), The Rice Company (California), Hormel Foods Corporation (Minnesota), Bunge (New York), Northarvest Bean Growers (Minnesota), Tyson Foods (Arkansas), and Georgia Department of Agriculture (Georgia) are among the companies, organizations, and state offices, planning to participate in the U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition. Many exhibitors will be preparing and distributing product samples.

Products featured at the U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition are expected to include, but are not limited to: commodities; food (snack, food service, etc.); feed; fish, shellfish and fish products; beer, wine and spirits; soft drinks; livestock; fiber, including cotton, wool and other fibers; tobacco and tobacco products; wood and wood products, including lumber and utility poles; seeds; reproductive materials such as fertilized eggs, embryos, and semen; vitamins, minerals, food additives and dietary supplements; bottled water; some fertilizers; and publications.

Mr. Pedro Alvarez Borrego, Chairman of Empresa Cubana Importadora Aliementos (Alimport), under the auspice of the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Cuba, said, "Alimport will use the U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition to identify millions of U.S. Dollars in new purchases, especially branded food products; and many of the contracts for these new purchases will be signed during the exhibition. We view the U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition as an opportunity for U.S. companies to continue to create brand awareness and brand preference before the 11.2 million citizens of Cuba.... The event will facilitate further sales of U.S. food and agricultural products to Cuba and a mutual knowledge of both markets."

Alimport is the primary purchaser of food products and agricultural products for use by the 11.2 million citizens of Cuba, for the tourism sector, and for U.S. Dollar retail stores. Alimport has been designated by the government of Cuba as the exclusive importer for food products and agricultural products sourced directly from the United States. Representatives of government-operated companies and non-government-operated companies that have offices in Cuba will be amongst those attending the U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition.

Under provisions of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act (TSRA) of 2000, Alimport, which has purchased (on a cash basis, not including transportation costs) approximately US$106 million in agricultural and food products from United States companies since December 2001, expects to exceed US$165 million in purchases by the end of 2002; and projects that purchases could be US$250 million or more in 2003. Thus far, the 600,000 metric tons of purchases have been sourced from twenty-eight states.

Based upon statistics compiled by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Cuba will rank approximately 45th of 180 countries in terms of agricultural product purchases from United States companies in 2002, compared to 138th in 2001, and 180th in 2000. Based upon projected purchases, Cuba will rank 33rd in 2003.

Mr. Peter W. Nathan, President of PWN Exhibicon International LLC, said, "That Alimport will be making purchases from participants at the U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition will be immeasurably significant for U.S. companies. Rarely does a government entity make such an important commitment to exhibitors in advance of an event."

In 2001, PWN Exhibicon International LLC became the first and only U.S. company to be issued a license by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury to conduct a U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition in Havana having first sought a license from the OFAC in 1999. In 2000, PWN Exhibicon International LLC conducted the U.S. Healthcare Exhibition in Havana, which included 305 representatives of 97 U.S. companies exhibiting products to more than 8,000 Cuban healthcare professionals. Mr. Nathan was instrumental in organizing the first U.S. trade exhibitions in the then-U.S.S.R. in the early 1970's and in the People's Republic of China in 1980.

Mr. John S. Kavulich II, President of the New York City-based U.S. Cuba Trade and Economic Council (http://www.cubatrade.org), said, "The U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition provides a cost-effective opportunity, which importantly is specifically authorized by the U.S. government, for companies to present their products directly to desired customers in Cuba; and for Alimport and hundreds of purchasers in Cuba, an opportunity for the best in one-stop shopping."

Bethesda, Maryland-based E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc., is assisting PWN Exhibicon International LLC with the marketing and operations for the U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition. E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc., is one of the largest exhibition management companies in the world, with sixteen offices on four continents producing more than eighty events annually in sixteen different industries.

A 9-square meter fully furnished exhibition booth, which includes three walls, carpeting, furniture, electricity, signage, and in-hall transportation of exhibit materials, is US$3,960.00. Raw space, multiple booth packages, and sponsorships, including those for travel, cargo, and directory services, are available. The cost for an exhibition booth remains the same as for the previously-held U.S. Healthcare Exhibition.

Participants will not be required to obtain a license from the OFAC for travel-related expenditures in Cuba, as PWN Exhibicon International LLC has a license which includes exhibitors.

Discounted airline/hotel/transportation packages have been arranged through OFAC-authorized companies and with Corporacion Cimex subsidiary, Havanatur, in Cuba.

PWN Exhibicon International LLC is arranging for exhibitors to access expedited processing of applications to register trademarks in Cuba. Approximately 4,000 trademarks owned by U.S. companies are registered in Cuba.

PWN Exhibicon International LLC will assist exhibitors in obtaining a license from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the United States Department of Commerce for product samples to be exported from the United States to Cuba. Arrangements have been confirmed for the transportation of exhibit materials directly from the U.S. to Cuba.

The BIS provides an Internet-based export license application service, SNAP (Simplified Network Application Process). A single application may be used for multiple product samples. Use of this system provides same day application acknowledgment and online validations, e.g. electronic facsimile of the export license. Please contact: Mr. John Bolsteins; Office of Strategic Trade and Foreign Policy Controls-BIC; United States Department of Commerce; Washington, D.C. 20230; Telephone: [phone]; Facsimile: [phone]; E-mail: [e-mail]; Internet: http://www.bis.doc.gov or http://www.bis.doc/SNAP/

To obtain an application, floor plan, rates, sponsorship details, etc., please contact either PWN Exhibicon International LLC, 4 Greenbrier Lane, Westport, Connecticut 06880; Telephone: [phone]; Facsimile: [phone]; e-mail: [e-mail]; Internet: http://www.cubaexhibitions.com or Mr. David Gerhardt, E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc.; Suite 500; 6550 Rock Spring Drive; Bethesda, Maryland 20817; Telephone: [phone]; Facsimile: [phone]; E-mail: [e-mail]; Internet: http://www.ejkrause.com