Summit Communications: You have been the Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs, and you have worked closely with many African countries on development and economic issues. Right now you are the Chairman of one of the largest companies in Sierra Leone. How would you characterize Sierra Leone's economic and political progress?

Walter Kansteiner: Through some remarkable internal transformation and with help from the international community Sierra Leone has moved from the depths of a savage and brutal civil war to become a country full of hope and a rising star on the continent. It is still, in the grand scheme of things, early days. But the future for Sierra Leone is looking very good.

Summit Communications: Especially in the mining sector that your company is involved in.

Walter Kansteiner: The mineral sector is very promising. The mineral sector and natural resources extraction have always played a big role in Sierra Leone's economy, and for the next few decades will probably continue to do so.

Summit Communications: TRG is an excellent example of how public-private partnerships can work in Africa. President Kabbah cited TRG as one of the best examples of public-private partnerships coming together. TRG partially state owned, you receive tons of investment from the international community by raising money on the AIM. What are your thoughts on where the company is heading in regards to SL natural resources industry?

Walter Kansteiner: Before the closure of the mine in 1995, it was the country's largest hard currency earner, as well as the largest employer. Our company looks forward to taking on that very vital role as a leading industrial base. The government is also very keen to see this industry working successfully. It is a public-private partnership. Everyone is pulling in the same direction because we all are trying to achieve the same objective of solid, environmentally-conscious, community based economic development. It is slowly happening, and it is very exciting. The Board is going to have a meeting at the mine site in the early half of 2006. It is exciting for the board members to get down there and see what is happening. We plan to commission Dredge One in the next couple of months and, at our bauxite mine, production will be underway in the next few weeks, as planned.

Summit Communications: With the two operations next to each other, are you planning to add value to the exports before they make it out to sea?

Walter Kansteiner: Well with bauxite, we will probably need to do some basic sifting. The rutile is more complicated, in the sense that it is wet slurry that goes into a dry electro magnetic capability that pulls up the zircon and some of the other minerals. So that extra added value is taking place on the rutile side. On the bauxite mine it's pretty straightforward.

Eventually we hope to do more of that. Although some of the rutile goes into industries that are highly technical, such as the aerospace industry, for instance, and that kind of processing is more likely to take place in the US, Canada and Europe, there are other uses for rutile, like paint, that need less technical transformation. It's a possibility for the future, but the company has no concrete plans right now.

Summit Communications: In the first quarter of next year, TRG is planning to restart its operations, bringing investment and jobs into the country. At one time before the conflict, up to 1800 people were employed by TRG. You have also made a massive investment in infrastructure and port development. What opportunities are you creating for the Sierra Leonean people?

Walter Kansteiner: It's already happening. The number of employees is increasing, and as production gets under way, that upswing will continue. The refurbishment of things like barges and ports and basic infrastructure development is great for the company and great for the country. Everybody needs it, and everybody wins. We are planning to set up a TRG foundation to assist with healthcare, education and community agriculture.

Summit Communications: Regarding the environmental footprint, in past speeches you have underscored the need to conserve Africa's environment. You have said that people cannot prosper when air is not fit to breathe, water isn't available, and farms and forests have turned to dust. Can you share some insights on how TRG wants to reduce its footprint on the environment?

Walter Kansteiner: Fortunately, this particular ore body is virtually on the surface so the environmental impact is minimal. It is a blessing that God gave us a resource that we can extract at very little cost to the ecosystem and to the environment. In fact, after mining, you are left with these very shallow lagoons that are terrific for aquaculture and fisheries. We are very proud of the low impact on the environment. It is something we are fully committed to in all our activities from where we put the roads, to the mining process itself. Our environmental impact studies are world class.

Summit Communications: Commenting on the re-opening, President Kabbah, said: "This project is a shining example of real sustainable investment which has the potential to confer benefits on a generation of Sierra Leoneans." The government also sponsored the 10-year mining lease. How would you characterize your relationship with the government?

Walter Kansteiner: They have been wonderful. Firstly, the government is an equity shareholder so we are business partners. We are all in this thing together and because of this they have been very reasonable in terms of tax codes, royalties and import-export fees. Everything has been negotiated and it's all very fair. We feel that they have bent over backwards to provide us with a very good business climate.

Summit Communications: Is it fair to say that you feel comfortable with the business climate in the country?

Walter Kansteiner: Well, the ultimate vote of confidence in a sovereign country is foreign direct investment in fixed capital assets. You can't pick up and take away the kind of investments that we are making. We will spend a lot of money in Sierra Leone because we believe in the country.

Building a dredge of the size that we are building is very expensive and time consuming. We are very bullish on Sierra Leone and believe that this country will remain stable and this ore body is going to produce very good returns for all the shareholders, including Sierra Leone. A construction team is there finishing up dredge one and though we are still several months away from commissioning the second dredge, it will be a major step.

Summit Communications: And have you encountered any problems with corruption?

Walter Kansteiner: In our experience, corruption has not been a problem. We have had a very positive experience.

Summit Communications: And what's next for TRG? Do you plan to expand operations to other parts of Africa?

Walter Kansteiner: For now, TRG is involved in rutile and bauxite and only in Sierra Leone. Does that mean that these are the only two projects that this company is ever going to be involved in? No, we are entrepreneurial and we are interested in natural resource extraction all through the continent but first we have to make this work. We are confident that we can. The way rutile and titanium pricing is right now, our economic models look very good.

Summit Communications: You have been a US Government Specialist on Africa. You've seen a lot of Developments in Africa, like the G8 taking a first step towards canceling 55 billion in African Debt this year. Democracy and good governance are being strengthening in Sierra Leone, and the second multi-party elections since the end of the war will take place in 2007. What role do you think the United States can play in helping Africa, and Sierra Leone, to develop and make the changes that are fundamentally necessary?

Walter Kansteiner: What the US government can and does do, is to encourage governments to have a receptive attitude towards foreign direct investment. That doesn't mean that developmental assistance and government-to-government aid isn't important. It is important and often that aid can get a government or a country to where it is more attractive for the private sector to invest but ultimately investment is the long-term solution. As a government official, as someone that is trying to encourage and facilitate investment in developing countries, your role is to get the government to understand why it's important to have the rule of law, private property rights and the basic legal framework and capitalist infrastructure needed for investment to take place. That doesn't just happen - it takes time and effort to build that awareness and put in place the building blocks for business. What does a mining concession look like? How many years is it good for? Can other people use it? Is it exclusive? These questions have to be answered in a clear and definitive way before someone is going to invest in a country. That is what governments can do. Help each other build the infrastructure that makes it attractive for foreign private companies to come invest.

Summit Communications: Mr. Kansteiner, what message would you send to the potential investors in Sierra Leone reading this interview?

Walter Kansteiner: If we are crazy enough to do this, why don't you come in! We believe in Sierra Leone and what we are doing here. We encourage you to take a look for yourselves; you will probably come to the same conclusions.

Summit Communications: Is there anything else you want to highlight about Sierra Leone, your experiences there, TRG, what it means?

Walter Kansteiner: I think it is important to remember that Sierra Leone is part of a region and that, as a region, West Africa seems to be putting its house in order. Clearly, Liberia is heading in the right direction. Liberia is very different today compared to Liberia three years ago. Regional stability does matter and the good news for Sierra Leone is that the neighborhood is becoming increasingly stable, increasingly democratic and attracting increasing amounts of foreign investment inflows. At the same time, it is important to recognize that they are all separate, sovereign and individual countries. Investors, Americans particularly, have a tendency to lump all these countries together but you have to understand that these are distinct individual countries.

Summit Communications: In August, TRG raised $74mln when it listed on the London Stock Exchange, marking a new era from the company. Were you pleased with how it went?

Walter Kansteiner: We are very happy with the IPO. We had a good combination of North American and European investors, and a wide-range of institutions. A publicly traded company is different. As a publicly traded company, TRG must take on the key responsibilities that flow from that listing.

Summit Communications: One last question for you on bilateral relations between Sierra Leone and the US. You are an Africa Specialist, you have been in business, and soon as part of the largest investment in the country, you will begin exports to the US amongst other places. What is your outlook, your view on the relationship?

Walter Kansteiner: I think the bilateral relationship is very good. Most people in the US government that focus on Sierra Leone and West Africa think of the country as a place that has made tremendous progress in a relatively short period of time. Sierra Leone deserves the assistance, attention and help that it gets. Because of the historical ties between the two countries, the British government has been terrific. Tony Blair has been a big supporter. You can't underplay the UK's role. Even from a military point of view, what they did was fantastic. General David Richards, the British General who masterminded the British military presence in Sierra Leone, is an absolute hero. There should be a General Richards Boulevard in Freetown. This guy was very brave and insightful.