|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
  |
 |
  |
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
U.S. Officials Cite Benefits of Free-Trade Pact with Central America
CAFTA described as promoting U.S.-Central American trade
Washington File
29 May 2003
By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer
Adolfo A. Franco, Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean presents the report Mission Accomplished, a U.S. Government final report of reconstruction after Hurricanes Georges and Mitch.Washington -- Enactment of a free-trade agreement between the United States and five Central American nations will benefit both regions of the Western Hemisphere, says Adolfo Franco, assistant administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
In May 29 remarks, Franco said the trade agreement will build on progress Central America has made over the past several decades in overcoming a series of natural disasters, economic degradation, and military conflicts.
Franco said the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) -- covering Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua -- is a "win-win" proposition for the United States and Central America that will encourage increased mutual trade.
The panel discussion was moderated by Ambassador Frank Almaguer and had the participation of USAID Adolfo A. Franco, Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean; Ambassador Rene Leon Rodriguez of El Salvador; and Ms. Regina Vargo, Assistant U.S. Trade Representatives for the Americas."We want people [in Central America] to buy American goods, and we want them to export" their goods as well to the United States, said Franco at a forum called "From [Hurricane] Mitch to CAFTA." He added that the U.S. national interest benefits from growing economies, stability, rising incomes, and a higher quality of life in Central America.
Franco said President Bush wants not only a "safer world, but a better world," adding: "That's our vision, and we're committed to doing everything we can at USAID" to accomplish this.
The official pointed to a new USAID brochure titled "Mission Accomplished," which outlines the U.S. government's $1-billion hurricane relief and reconstruction program in Central America and the Caribbean. Franco said the two hurricanes -- Mitch and Georges -- that struck those regions in 1998 left 19,000 people dead or missing, three million people displaced, and caused $8.5 billion in damage.
"The destruction of crops, homes, and infrastructure was unprecedented -- and could have easily have undone many decades of progress" in Central America, said Franco.
In response to those natural disasters, the U.S. government provided nearly $300 million of emergency assistance, such as food, helicopter transport, blankets, plastic sheeting, medicine, and safe drinking water. Other U.S. funds were used for long-term reconstruction efforts to restore roads and bridges, to prevent the spread of major diseases such as cholera, for disaster mitigation such as stabilizing watersheds and preventing soil erosion, and to upgrade housing for the local population.
In 2002, Franco noted, his agency began a new initiative called the Opportunity Alliance for Central America, which he said augments existing regional and bilateral programs to build trade capacity among the Central American countries and to help them prepare for CAFTA. That alliance, he explained, also supports public and private partnerships and seeks to make businesses in Central America more competitive.
For example, USAID launched an $8-million program under the Opportunity Alliance to assist Central American small and medium coffee producers in improving coffee quality, in forming new business linkages, in securing longer-term contracts with the specialty coffee industry, and in identifying and implementing diversification options for producers who cannot compete on the global market.
"With all candor, I think Central America has endured in the last 25 years many more challenges than any other place in Latin America," Franco said. But he added that Central Americans have "risen to the occasion, and we're here to celebrate" that success.
And "simultaneously to our reconstruction effort, we're looking ahead [at] what we need to do to make sure that CAFTA represents the best opportunity for Central Americans to take full advantage" of that trade agreement, he said.
Enactment of CAFTA, Franco said, will give Central America the potential to find new trade markets in the United States and elsewhere around the world.
Ms. Regina Vargo, Assistant U.S. Trade Representatives for the Americas discusses the impact of CATFA in Central America.Another speaker, Regina Vargo, assistant U.S. trade representative for the Americas, said that what has happened in Central America represents "a very impressive story of overcoming great adversity and rebuilding," and is also a "sobering" reminder of the economic problems that continue to challenge the people of that region.
Vargo said CAFTA is the "centerpiece" of the U.S. approach to helping Central America. In turn, she said CAFTA will strengthen prospects for enactment of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, stretching from Canada to Chile.
The U.S. approach to helping smaller developing economies is a combination of trade liberalization and economic aid, said Vargo. She said the United States has raised trade capacity-building to a central position, giving it "high-level attention" alongside the ongoing negotiations for CAFTA.
Small business development and rural diversification number among the chief U.S. goals for Central American trade capacity-building, Vargo said. In addition, the five Central American nations in CAFTA have highlighted sanitary and phytosanitary issues as among their priorities for assistance.
U.S. initiatives to help the CAFTA nations, Vargo said, include aid for information technology assistance and civil society outreach. In addition to U.S. government aid, trade capacity-building efforts are continuing under the auspices of the Inter-American Development Bank, the Organization of American States, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the World Bank, and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration.
Vargo said CAFTA, once it enters into force, will provide Central America a "platform" on which to build stronger economies. She said the United States and the CAFTA nations have set out a "very ambitious" schedule for negotiations on the trade pact and "we do expect to reach [final] agreement" by the end of 2003.
CAFTA, Vargo continued, will provide "new benefits" to Central Americans and to the United States. She said the United States already exports about $10 billion in goods and services annually to the five CAFTA nations, about what the United States exports to Russia, India, and Indonesia combined, while importing about $11 billion in goods and services from Central America.
CAFTA will elevate the five Central American nations to full trading partners with the United States, granting permanent duty-free benefits for the region's exports to the United States, Vargo said.
Most significantly, Vargo added, CAFTA will further "accelerate the regional integration effort" Central America has already begun, "erasing many of the inefficiencies that currently plague trade" in the area.
In combination with commitments on labor rights and protecting the environment, CAFTA will make Central America a "more attractive place for investment and lead to faster economic growth," she said.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
 |
|||
Last Updated on: December 30, 2008 |
