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Mr. Seng. I feel, to answer that question, I think that the people 

 that FAS have are very capable and very dedicated employees. I 

 have tremendous respect for these people. On the other hand, ev- 

 eryone that has basically an economics background, they have to 

 have a master in economics, basically to work at FAS. 



I think we feel and what we propose in our presentation this 

 morning is that there would be a little more interface with the in- 

 dustry. More of a marketing background, more of appreciation and 

 there is an appreciation — more of an appreciation for what it takes 

 to produce the product. What is involved with the product, some of 

 these types of things we are looking at ways to improve. But as far 

 as the skills and dedication of people at FAS, I think they stand 

 alone in some areas. 



Mr. Horn. Let me make one more subquestion and I want to call 

 on Ms. Webster to answer both of those and Ms. Colon. Do you see 

 them more in a reporting function of what goes on in their country 

 much like a typical State Department diplomatic officer or military 

 attache that reports to the Pentagon that are trying to keep you 

 apprised of developments in the sense of a critical nationalist of 

 what they are seeing in agriculture? 



Mr. Seng. Can I qualify that answer. I see them reporting expen- 

 sively from FAS's standpoint. There are few services there. I think 

 with the MEF, again, with eight officers internationally, our people 

 substitute for FAS employees overseas because they are involved 

 with the market, meeting the buyers, working out specifications. 

 And they also do an extensive amount of reporting. 



You take the example of Jim Parker in Tokyo which is one of the 

 largest posts overseas. They have a tremendous staff that does a 

 lot of reporting and, of course, we would do a lot just independently 

 because we have a position there in the market as do a lot of other 

 cooperators including wood products. But a lot of markets in my 

 testimony, I talked about a long-range strategy. 



FAS plays a very vital role because those are the future markets. 

 FAS was in Mexico long before we were in Mexico. Now that is our 

 second largest market. They were in Korea long before us. That is 

 our third largest market. So they initially, on a long-term basis, get 

 things done where companies would be reluctant to go in and 

 spend for that long investment to get something done. That is 

 where FAS and the cooperators can do that. So that is a very com- 

 plementary role which I am trying to bring out this morning be- 

 tween the cooperator and FAS that should be fostered in this proc- 

 ess. 



Mr. Horn. I think you made a good point. 



Mr. Webster, you want to comment? 



Mr. Webster. That was said very well. The people that we co- 

 operate with in FAS program that are in our offices, we have — our 

 own American Hardwood and Export Council has its own people 

 and FAS are cooperating with us. They are complementary. We 

 don't depend on one to do one job or the other. They complement 

 each other in skills, help one another to do the job and the job 

 again, in my perspective, has done extremely well. 



I would like to make one comment to you, sir, that I didn't make 

 before, but I think this is probably the time to do it. One of the 

 things that possibly could be addressed in FAS is to get an admin- 



