At a recent Orlando Regional Chamber Global Business Advisory Board (GBAB) meeting, Inés Calderon, Executive Director of Florida FTAA, Inc., spoke to business and community leaders in the international arena about the most important trade program in the history of the hemisphere – the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

As myregion.org has been teaching us, our region and our state have undergone tremendous changes in the past decade. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, new markets have emerged, creating a new “global economy.” We have learned about the new trading blocs - North America, the European Union, and the Russian Federation. The colorful maps, representing our new visual language, have helped us appreciate how the NAFTA corridor has joined North America, providing transportation and communications infrastructure from Canada to Mexico, and generating $1.2 million per minute in trade for American exporters.
(click map to enlarge)

Negotiations to create the largest free trade area of the world are entering their final stage, with Miami as the possible location for the Secretariat. GBAB members traveled to Tampa last month to join local, national and international experts to witness in the signing of a Joint Resolution in support of this effort. The FTAA will integrate 34 democratically governed countries, with a combined population of 800 million consumers, and a combined gross domestic product of $14 trillion.

“The ‘connection’ that myregion.org so strongly advocates is the challenge that FTAA is facing,” said Joel Hass, Chairman of myregion.org and special guest at the Global Business Advisory Board meeting. Florida’s geography, history, demography, economics and public policy all have contributed in making our state the “Gateway to the Americas.” Succeeding in this effort will definitely position our region and our state in the global marketplace. Only through a spirit of collaboration will we create a unified America with Florida as the cornerstone.

To learn more about the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, you may contact Florida FTAA, Inc., at 305-476-5451 or log on to www.floridaftaa.org.