Toronto FTAA ministerial & business conference
In all the hoopla about the WTO, the FTAA ministerial in Toronto has gone mostly unmentioned. The meeting is November 3-4, and is preceded by a conference for business, Nov. 1-3. The two articles below are from www.americascanada.org.
FTAA Ministerial Meeting Conference
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
November 3-4, 1999
AT THE MARCH 1998 Trade Minister's Meeting in San Jos, Costa Rica, Canada was chosen to Chair the first 18 months of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations. As FTAA Chair, Canada heads the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) of chief negotiators and will host the next FTAA Ministerial Conference in Toronto, Ontario from November 3-4, 1999.
The FTAA negotiations, launched officially at the Second Summit of the Americas in Santiago, Chile in April 1998, hold the potential for creating the world's largest free trade area, with 800 million people and a combined GDP of over $10.6 trillion. For the 34 democratic nations of the Western Hemisphere, an FTAA agreement that is balanced, comprehensive and consistent with the World Trade Organization (WTO) would be the cornerstone of a dynamic 21st century hemispheric agenda that delivers results and is accessible, responsive and transparent to its citizens.
Greater shared prosperity is a centrepiece of this vision. But economic integration alone will not yield a better quality of life in the Americas. There must also be an equally strong commitment to consolidate democracy, to promote human rights and to address social inequalities through promoting education and eliminating racial discrimination. Canada looks upon additional progress in each of these areas as cornerstones on which a true hemispheric community can be built. Progress on this broader social agenda must go hand-in-hand with progress on the FTAA.
Since 1993, Canada has negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Mexico, a Free Trade Agreement with Chile, Trade and Investment Cooperation Arrangements (TICAs) with the countries of MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay) and the countries of Central America. The returns on this engagement are measurable and real. Two-way trade with the region (non-U.S.) has doubled in five years to over $18 billion (double Canada's two-way trade with ASEAN) and Canadian direct investment (non-U.S.) has risen to an estimated $26 billion.
Fifth Americas Business Forum
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
November 1-3, 1999
THE AMERICAS BUSINESS FORUM (ABF) is the primary mechanism for private sector input to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations. This year the ABF will be held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from November 1-3, 1999. As host of the premier Americas business event of the year, Toronto will welcome more than 1,000 business leaders from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean.
This ABF offers a pre-eminent opportunity to Americas' business leaders to make a high level presentation of their views to the Trade Ministers of the Americas, who will be meeting in Toronto from November 3-4, 1999 — just weeks prior to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Seattle, Washington from November 30 to December 3, 1999, which will launch global negotiations to further open markets in goods, services, and agricultural trade.
The FTAA negotiations are aimed at a free trade agreement that is balanced, comprehensive and consistent with the WTO negotiations. For the 34 democratic nations of the Western Hemisphere a comprehensive, state-of-the-art FTAA agreement would establish the world's largest free trade area with 800 million people and a combined GDP of $10.6 trillion.
The ABF is a cooperative effort of the Hemisphere Summit Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Canadian Council for the Americas, the Alliance of Manufacturers and Exporters Canada, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the City of Toronto, Ontario Exporters, and the Government of Ontario. It will be a "must attend" event for all business leaders throughout the Americas who are interested in hemispheric trade and the expansion of economic relations in the region.
OAS Windsor June 2000 | FTAA Quebec April 2001 | www.agp.org