It is a year old - was discovered by a RB poster.
The link has some pictures too: chickasaw.com
Date: August 28, 1998
Thailand Group Visits Chickasaw Nation
by Kay-Taylor Colbert
Imagine the surprise when Chickasaw Nation officials received a fax just three days before a member of
Thialand's business community asked to visit here. Robert Cespedes, president of Gabrieli Trading
Consultancy and S.E.A. Co., Ltd, said his trip to the Chickasaw Nation was a first meeting whereby both parties
could "meet each other" and "see if we like each other."
Cespedes owns a company called Gabrieli Group Co., Ltd, headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, the parent
company to a group of companies of varying interests including interior design, construction, furniture and textile
manufacturing, and media productions.
Arriving the morning of August 20, Chickasaw Nation officials welcomed Cespedes and his five-member
delegation at the Ada Municipal Airport. The cultural differences were clear: everyone, from both sides, had
difficulty pronouncing each other's names. But after the exchange of names, Tribal officials quickly put the
Gabrieli group at ease with a tour of Ada and a visit to the tribe's health facility before attending a reception and
luncheon at the Chickasaw Housing Authority at noon.
"I see where this [health system] is of great value to your people," said Cespedes, "and it's good you are able to
use this kind of current technology to help your people, we are interested in seeing the progress of your work
here.
Once at the housing authority, Governor Anoatubby welcomed the Thailand group in a private reception as
requested by Robert Cespedes for a private exchange of gifts. Cespedes first presented Governor Anoatubby
with a ceremonial plate, cup and saucer set, called "Bejarong," which have been made in Thailand for more than
700 years.
"This gift," Cespedes said, "is given in appreciation for the wonderful way we've been received here today and
for the relationship we begin building here today."
Governor Anoatubby reciprocated with an offering of a peace pipe, a tradition practiced among most Indian
societies receiving visitors here in Indian country long before the North American continent was named by early
Europeans in the 1500s. "We offer you this as gesture of good will and symbol of peace for today's meeting and
for future meetings to come," Anoatubby said.
Immediately following the gift exchange, both Governor Anoatubby and Robert Cespedes were escorted to a
press conference held at the housing authority with TV stations Channel 10 and 12 attending. Reporters asked
both Governor Anoatubby and Robert Cespedes to explain the purpose of the day's visit and what can be
expected from this meeting set to follow.
Robert Cespedes: "Today is going to be our first confrontation [in context here meaning meeting],
we meet each other, get to know each other...we'll be looking into many prospects concerning
the business side, production side and manufacturing side...we have the topics...we want to
investigate some cultural exchanges...we're open and I see the Chickasaw Nation is open."
Governor Anoatubby: "I believe by continuing these talks and continuing to explore, we will have
something to implement that will improve conditions, in both our communities, and create
economic and cultural opportunities for us all."
Next, the group traveled across town to the headquarters where both sides were ready to settle down to
business. With jackets draped behind their chairs and sleeves rolled up, subjects quickly emerged dealing with
foreign trade, and the foreign trade zone projects proposed by the Chickasaw Nation. Other items discussed
were housing joint ventures, commercial trading ventures, with emphasis on manpower recruitment and labor
skills, media production possibilities, tourism, medical cooperatives via health care, physician exchanges, and
the advancement of health care technologies.
Why all the interests from this group of Thailand businessmen?
Asia's financial markets are opening up to foreign investors say the experts, in an attempt to strengthen the
economies of varying Asian markets. What the Chickasaw Nation wants to do is "fill a niche" when heads of
family-run conglomerates such as the Cespedes group goes looking for partners for economic venture here in
the U.S.
"We want to be the first stop when foreign companies come calling," says Anoatubby. "The Chickasaw Nation
has the experience bundling all our resources, both on and off tribal lands, to get the job done and turn our rural
economies into prospering communities."
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