Assistant Administrator Adolfo Franco Addresses Caribbean-Central
America Action Conference on Trade Capacity Building
USAID continues to forge a close relationship through trade
capacity building with the "third border" countries of the
Caribbean and Central America, Assistant Administrator Adolfo
Franco told a major conference of Caribbean and Central American
Action on Wednesday, December 7 in Miami.
He called on the audience to further advance the region’s
momentum and progress toward trade, economic growth, and poverty
reduction.
 In
order to be successful, Franco said, “All stakeholders must
be involved: the private sector must invest to produce jobs
that can efficiently compete in a global economy; the public
sector must produce effective institutions that predictably
operate under transparent ‘rule of law,’ and civil society
must engage as true stakeholders to produce communities that
provide the stable basis for investing today for prosperity
tomorrow.”
According to Assistant Administrator Franco, trade capacity
building is a top priority for the U.S. Government in the
Latin American and Caribbean region.
“The U.S. sees trade capacity building as a means of promoting
enhanced economic prosperity and security in Latin America
and the Caribbean. USAID’s strategy for trade capacity building
assistance entails three dimensions: preparing for trade negotiations,
implementing trade agreement obligations, and transitioning
to free trade.”
“USAID’s support for trade capacity building in each of
these three capacity building areas dovetails nicely with
this conference’s emphasis on the three challenges of producing
well-paying jobs that compete in a global economy; producing
effective institutions that operate predictably under ‘rule
of law,’ and producing stable communities with participation
of all stakeholders in civil society.”
Franco said that USAID has devoted significant resources
that help countries transition to free trade and take advantage
of new opportunities in global markets through programs in
small business development, rural diversification, and competitiveness.
He said this is increasing “well-paying jobs that efficiently
compete in a global economy.”
In addition, USAID has provided assistance to help countries
implement WTO obligations and other “trade rules” that are
required by bilateral and regional agreements, such as DR-CAFTA
or other agreements that are being negotiated, such as Panama
or the Andean Free Trade Agreement, Franco said.
Franco noted that U.S. assistance for Caribbean Basin Initiative
(CBI) beneficiary countries—24 countries with duty-free access
to the U.S. market—is significant.
“In 2005, USAID contributed over $60 million in trade capacity
building to CBI beneficiary countries. This support has been
largely focused on those countries negotiating, preparing
for, or implementing free trade agreements (FTAs) with the
United States,” he said.
Franco mentioned the countries that are currently benefiting
from the U.S. Government’s assistance in trade capacity building.
”In Central America and the Dominican Republic, trade capacity
building assistance is being provided to the six countries
that signed the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central American Free
Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).” Franco said. “In Panama, USAID
recently started a trade capacity building assistance program
in support of the negotiation of the U.S.-Panama FTA.”
Additionally, “in support of the Free Trade Area of the
Americas (FTAA), USAID provided TCB assistance to CARICOM
countries, such as Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, and several Eastern
Caribbean countries,” he said.
The U.S Government has provided significant support for
the smaller economies under CARICOM, the Caribbean Single
Market and Economy, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean
States (OECS), and the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Under Administrator Andrew Natsios, USAID has also elevated
public-private partnerships to a higher level in the context
of our development work. We call this new way of doing business
the Global Development Alliance. The GDA leverages resources
between companies, non-profits, and government agencies to
maximize the impact of aid in developing nations.
“USAID has worked on two different kinds of alliances with
CCAA itself. The Alliance for CAFTAction is a project that
is serving as a catalyst to articulate a shared vision between
and among the business community, the public sector, and civil
society on CAFTA,” explained Franco. “The second area of collaboration
with CCAA is the Maritime Port Security Program for Haiti.
The objective is to improve maritime port security with respect
to compliance requirements of the International Maritime Organization’s
International Ship & Port Facility Security Code in Haiti,”
said Franco.
He concluded, “Let’s think of new ways of working together
to create a ‘prosperous third border’—one that is fully integrated,
competitive, and generates new opportunities and jobs.”
The three-day conference included leaders from the U.S.
and most Caribbean basin countries, including Nicaragua President
Enrique Bolaños, Honduras President Ricardo Maduro, El Salvador
Vice President Ana Vilma Albanez de Escobar, Grenada Prime
Minister Keith Mitchell, St. Lucia Prime Minister Kenny Anthony,
and Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.
Full-text of speech: Adolfo Franco,
Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean,
at the Caribbean Central America Action 29th Annual Miami
Conference on the Caribbean Basin, December 7, 2005.
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