Miami lobbies Antigua for right to call FTAA secretariat home

PM Lester Bird is being lobbied by Miami's FTAA officials

Tuesday, October 7, 2003

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua and Barbuda: Miami is not letting Antigua and Barbuda's strong presence in Caricom stop them from lobbying the islands' government's support to house the Free Trade Area Americas secretariat. 

Prime Minister, Mr. Lester Bird, and Minister of Trade, Mr. Gaston Brown, as well as members of the Antigua Chamber of Commerce yesterday met with a group of Miami representatives, including Mr. Jorge Arrizurieta, executive director of Florida FTAA.

The meetings, being held by the not-for-profit organization created by Florida's governor to promote Miami's candidacy as host city, are part of a regional campaign which will highlight the city's competitive advantages in 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Trinidad and Atlanta are also bidding to become the permanent headquarters through a process to be decided with the participation of all countries in the region in early 2004. 

But Mr. Arrizurieta is trying to convince several regional leaders that, "Having the permanent FTAA secretariat in Miami is a very logical and natural choice." 

"Not only is our city already a virtual microcosm of Latin America and the Caribbean, it also holds the region's largest consular core, an unparalleled multilingual service sector, unequal access by air and sea and other key elements needed to support the largest economic union in the world," added Mr. Arrizurieta.

Florida is also vigorously lobbying St. Kitts/Nevis for their support. St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister Dr. Denzil L. Douglas has been invited to share the spotlight with Florida Governor, Mr. Jeb Bush at upcoming United Negro College Fund (UNCF) "Opening of the doors of Hope" Scholarship Luncheon, the islands' information ministry recently announced. 

From the start of the FTAA negotiations almost 10 years ago, the office of the secretariat has been rotating to different locations. It was located in Miami for three years, before moving to Panama, and is currently located in Puebla, Mexico. 

The last round of negotiations will take place in Miami next month. It is expected that the free trade agreement will become a reality by 2005. 

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