ALLIANCE FOR DR-CAFTACTION CCAA "CBI" Trade & Investment Forum CABEI (BCIE) Headquarters, Tegucigalpa September 8–9, 2004

Background
In April 2001, President Bush publicly unveiled his "Third Border" initiative designed to enhance cooperation & collaboration with the island nations of the Caribbean. CCAA has wholeheartedly embraced this concept and expanded it to include all of the small economies that make up the Caribbean Basin (also known as the Caribbean Basin Initiative "CBI" beneficiary countries), our traditional sphere of influence. After 9/11, the geographic proximity of these countries has once again become more relevant in terms of the United States’ national security and strategic interests. The successful negotiation and signing of the free trade agreement between the Dominican Republic, Central America and the United States (DR-CAFTA) reflects a significant step forward in the development of a closer working relationship between and among the countries of the region and in securing the political stability and economic soundness of the neighborhood. While there has been tremendous progress over the past 18 months to establish the common ground needed to sign a single agreement with the U. S., the successful ratification and implementation of DR-CAFTA is by no means assured and much work remains to be done. The crucial first step of obtaining greater market access must be accompanied by increased foreign investment flows if we are to overcome endemic poverty and confront global competition. This conference, hosted by CCAA in collaboration with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the Honduran Ministry of Industry and Commerce is the third in the series of CompromisoCentroAmérica, "CBI" Trade & Investment Forums following meetings in Managua (Oct. 2002) and San Salvador (Feb. 2004).

Conference Purpose
Bring together the key decision-makers to help build the ALLIANCE FOR DR-CAFTACTION and create a greater sense of urgency in meeting the challenges affecting the future well being of Central America and the Dominican Republic. CCAA’s mission, Strengthening The Third Border ™, is centered on promoting productive sector-led sustainable economic development in the Caribbean Basin. Simply put, the region must PRODUCE TO PROSPER. Our greatest challenge is making DR-CAFTA work for all of the people living in the region. By joining leaders from the public sector, the business community, civil society and academia, we expect to solidify the consensus needed to ratify DR-CAFTA in the national assemblies and the U.S. Congress, while bringing new momentum to the much-needed integration of the region. Business leaders must take the initiative in forging the public/private partnership required to confront the harsh realities of worsening poverty for many of its citizens and increased global competition for many of its businesses. The timely implementation of DR-CAFTA can become an effective catalyst for regional development if we can make it work for all. We must each do our part: if civil society is to prosper, the public sector must facilitate for the business community to produce.

Conference Objective
Obtain the participants’ unqualified "Compromiso" for the timely ratification and implementation of DR-CAFTA as a crucial step in consolidating the process of modernization currently underway in the region. The granting of market access through a commercially viable agreement is a key element in attracting foreign investment to the region. Fundamentally, we must recognize that foreign investment is a necessary prerequisite for sustainable development. Traditional sources of development finance - domestic savings, government aid, multilateral assistance and commercial bank lending - are no longer adequate. Sufficient investment, mitigated somewhat by increased remittance flows, has not come to the region due to four fundamental reasons: scale (small inefficient markets), skills (poorly educated workforce), bureaucracy (difficult business practices) and corruption (lack of the rule of law). Our aim is to attract greater investment flows by creating a constructive private/public dialogue to define the public policy changes needed to aggressively pursue what we have termed a Transformation Agenda - accelerating the pace of integration, capacity building, harmonization and good governance.

Conference Methodology
The Plenary Sessions will provide the context for the day’s discussions. The methodology for the concurrent sessions will be the same. Each will be conducted in a roundtable format where the moderators will engage the discussants and participants in an active dialogue aimed at providing 3 to 5 actionable responses to two fundamental questions: What needs to be done to successfully implement DR-CAFTA? What needs to be done to make DR-CAFTA work for all? Participants will be encouraged to avoid spending their time describing the difficulty of the present situation (Where are we now?). Instead, emphasis will be placed on sharing their vision of the future and more importantly, on what must be done to turn that vision into reality. Participants should reflect on 3 broad criteria as they relate to these discussions: What are the opportunities for action in my industry or community? What is the role of my firm or organization? What needs to be done to attract greater foreign investment to the region? The moderators will be responsible for conveying the roundtables’ main discussion points and their conclusions to the rest of the forum’s participants in the Moderators’ panel presentations at the end of the day. Each roundtable will also be asked to identify specific topics suitable for a subsequent "Best Practices" study to make recommendations that could be implemented expeditiously across the region.

Constituents

• U.S. Government – Senior Representatives from State, Commerce, Homeland Security, USAID, USTR, Treasury, US Ambassadors
  

• Regional Governments – Heads of State, Ministers of State (Economy, Agriculture etc.), Trade Negotiators, Investment Promotion Officers
  

• Multilateral Agencies –CABEI, SICA, SIECA, IADB, World Bank, IMF, BLADEX, OPIC, EXIMBANK, Enterprise Florida
  

• Multinational Companies – CEOs of Latin America & Caribbean, Regional & Country Managers, Government Affairs Officers
  

• Traditional Family-owned Enterprises – Owners/Directors, CEOs, GMs, INCAE country & competitiveness committees
  

• Private Sector Organizations –CEAL, AMCHAMs, AACCLA, US/CA Business Coalition, Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Cúpulas

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