Mississippi 'Town Meeting' to spotlight December hemispheric summit

Held in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State, the program will take place from 9:30 a.m. until 2:15 p.m. at the Ramada Plaza, 1001 County Line Road.

"The central theme will be how the 1994 Summit of the Americas will affect economic integration in the region, as well as how this will be particularly beneficial to Mississippi," said Dr. Janos Radvanyi, director of the Center for International Security and Strategic Studies.

President Clinton has invited the 33 democratically elected leaders of the Western Hemisphere to the Miami summit in early December. The meeting will be historic in several respects.

"It will be the first meeting in a generation of the national leaders of North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean region," Radvanyi said. "It also will be the first hemispheric summit hosted by the United States and the largest gathering of hemispheric leaders in history."

Featured Town Meeting speakers will include State Department economist Alan Larson and senior summit coordinator Charles A. Gillespie Jr. Both hold ambassadorial rank.

Also planned is a panel discussion of the central theme by Anton Klingler of Jackson, president of Klingler Electric Corp.; Doug Minor, vice president for international banking with Jackson-based Deposit Guaranty National Bank; and Mississippi State sociology professor John Saunders. Jimmy Heidel, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Economic and Community Development, will moderate.

The meeting will open with welcoming remarks by Gov. Kirk Fordice and Dr. Ralph E. Powe, Mississippi State vice president for research.

For additional information on the Town Meeting, call the center at 325-2028.