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25 Countries Study How to Use Airports as Economic Tool
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport kicked off what will be an on-going commitment to CIFAL-Atlanta last week with a three-day workshop that attracted airport representatives from more than 25 countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Robert Kennedy, director of marketing, public relations and intergovernmental affairs for the airport, said that he plans to continue working with CIFAL Atlanta, the North American training center for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.
Although CIFAL Atlanta is one of 12 UNITAR locations worldwide that offers economic development training to political, private sector and community leaders, the April 10-12 workshop was the first time a CIFAL agency paired with an airport to offer its services.
The impact airports can have on a region's economy prompted CIFAL Atlanta to begin workshops that allow airport representatives from across the world to learn how to use their facilities to stimulate local economies. "[Airports] bring new jobs, new industries, new knowledge and without relationships with local leaders, it's very hard to get airports optimized," Axel Leblois, executive director of CIFAL Atlanta said in his opening remarks at the workshop last week.
The three-day workshop entitled "Leveraging Airports for Economic Development," offered representatives from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Grenada, Jamaica, Paraguay, and other countries, a chance to meet with representatives from the World Bank Group, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, American consulting agencies and urban developers with experience in aviation development.
Mr. Kennedy said that the program could allow the Atlanta airport to share its successes with representatives from less developed airports throughout the world. The Atlanta airport is the busiest passenger airport in the world, welcoming 84 million travelers in 2004, and for the past two years it was seclected by Air Transport Research Society, a global aviation think tank, as the most efficient airport in the world, said airport spokeswoman, Felicia Browder.
Mr. Leblois hoped that the workshop would offer peer exchanges so that participants could learn more about the role of airports in the economic development of a region and how to engage local economic stakeholders and authorities in the strategic planning of an airport.
To learn more about upcoming CIFAL events and workshops visit www.cifalatlanta.org or contact Mr. Leblois at 404-214-9440.
Source: Nema Etheridge for GlobalAtlanta | © 2005 GlobalAtlanta. All Rights Reserved
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