International Focus Magazine Vol. 3, #10 | Page 45

IF Magazine Heidi PP: What is the role of the Consul General in Hous- ton? Tomas Dickens: The Consulate’s role mainly is based on consular and commercial affairs. Anything that has to do with promoting business with our country, especially working with the energy sector, the oil companies. We do not actually have a lot of peo- ple here on their own. They are ei- ther students or working with the oil companies. We have many students here, close to 200 currently. They are not only in Houston but also Dallas, Arkansas, and Atlanta. Most are study- ing business. Those that are working for the oil companies are sent here for training through the companies. IF Magazine Heidi PP: What would you like for US investors to know about investing in Equatorial Guin- ea? Tomas Dickens: I would start by saying, the President of Equato- rial Guinea has traveled to Houston a couple of times during which he invited investors from all sectors in- cluding the non energy investors to go to Equatorial Guinea and see for themselves what we have to offer. Now we are working toward diversi- fying our investments with other in- dustries besides oil. Cocoa and coffee have historically been products from Equatorial Guinea. We also have fish- ing and timber, also tourism. We are rich in natural resources and wildlife. There is some mining even though the mining sector is not well devel- oped yet. Our Minister of Mines and Hydro- carbons is working on that to make it more productive and attractive to investors in that industry. Our gov- ernment is investing a lot on infra- structure and housing for middle and lower income families. As a matter of fact, in the past 10 years, I would say there have been a lot of improvements in construction and technology. There are new roads and electricity through most of the area which facilitates communication and commerce among the people. It has been quite an achievement. Edu- cation and health has been the pri- orities of our government. We have reached a 93% percent literacy rate from elementary to University level. Our population is quite small and young. IF Magazine Heidi PP: Tell us a little about your background, your experi- ence, and what led to you serving as the Consul in Houston. Tomas Dickens: My background is international relations. I served as a Protocol Officer at the Foreign Min- istry but then I moved to work in the iF Magazine | www.iFMagazine.net 23 45