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.
