Gary Furlong | Consular Chamber of Commerce

Ambassador Nemotov presents Consul Warren with traditional Uzbek jacket

On the Occasion of the March 11 Spring Gala of the Prevent Cancer Foundation titled “The Enchanting Principality of Monaco,” members of the Consular Chamber of Commerce and the Consular Corps of Nevada made visits to four Washington, D.C. embassies.

Lunch at the Embassy of Uzbekistan

In addition to the Gala, participants enjoyed a private dinner at the home of the Ambassador of Monaco, a private luncheon at the Metropolitan Club hosted by the Principality of Monaco, a private lunch with the Ambassador of Uzbekistan arranged by Consul General Gary Furlong at the spectacular Uzbek embassy, coffee with the Consul General of Austria at the Austrian Embassy, and meeting with the Cultural Attaché and First Secretary at the Embassy of Chile.

Among the topics of discussion were tourism, international business and expansion of the consular corps and of the World Federation of Consuls (FICAC).

Felix Danciu and Kim Schmidt with Ambassador Noghes of Monaco

Within the past year, officers and board members of the Consular Chamber have made over a dozen embassy visits in Washington, D.C. alone, including embassies of Austria, Slovakia, Monaco, Uzbekistan, Chile, Guatemala and others. Expansion of the Consular Corps in Nevada has been discussed with embassies of countries not yet represented in Nevada, in hopes of increasing the number of consuls in Las Vegas to be on par with the number of visitors and percentage of foreign investment in the City.

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Attorney Lloyd Baker appeared somewhat shocked at the size of the gathering in his law office at 500 S. 8th Street in Las Vegas on March 31, 2010. The at-capacity crowd gathered for the open house launch of office space donated by the Mr. Baker to the Consular Chamber of Commerce, for use by member consuls either residing in, or visiting Las Vegas.

photography courtesy Gregory Smith Images

The event was also sponsored by Mundo ‘Culinary Haute Spot’ Restaurant, located just blocks away at World Market Center. Mundo proprietor George Harris recently invited the Honorary Consul of Chile in Las Vegas, Paulina Biggs Sparkuhl, to choose Chilean wines for the menu at the restaurant. Two of the four wines adopted for the Mundo menu were presented at this event, as well as a few of Mundo’s award-winning hors d’oeurves.

Consul Biggs Sparkuhl encouraged all to please patronize Mundo and have a glass of Chilean wine, making the point that each glass of wine poured was helping the Chilean economy recover from the disasterous recent earthquakes in the heart of the wine region.

: Gary Furlong, Honorary Consul General of Uzbekistan; Lena Walther, Honorary Consul of Sweden; Paulina Biggs Sparkuhl, Honorary Consul of Chile; Lloyd Baker, Consular Emissary; Dr. Aldo Aguirre, Honorary Vice-Consul of Guatemala; Marco Varela, Consular Emissary

In recognition of their ongoing support of his Consulate, Dr. Aldo Aguirre, Honorary Vice-Consul of Guatemala, took the opportunity to induct Lloyd Baker and Marco Varela into the Order of Consular Emissaries.

Consuls in attendance:

Gary Furlong, Honorary Consul General of Uzbekistan in Seattle
Paulina Biggs Sparkuhl, Honorary Consul of Chile in Las Vegas and North American Director of FICAC
Dr. Aldo Aguirre, Honorary Vice-Consul of Guatemala in Las Vegas and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Las Vegas Clark County Library District
Lena Walther, Honorary Consul of Sweden in Las Vegas
The Vice-Consul of El Salvador in Los Angeles (career consul), Juan Antonio Salamanca Escolero