Participants Report

Background

This workshop was the first organized by CIFAL Atlanta following its inauguration in September of 2004. In the context of its strategic focus on Commercial Diplomacy, CIFAL Atlanta was requested by FLACMA, the Latin American Federation of Municipalities and Cities to help design a program that would help cities to better understand, anticipate and prepare to deal with the risks and opportunities brought along by Free Trade Agreements.

A decision to proceed was made at the first meeting of the Executive Bureau of the United Cities and Local Governments in Sao Paulo, Brazil last October. The President of FLACMA and Mayor of Santiago de Chile, Pedro Sabat, agreed to participate in the first workshop and to facilitate technical and logistical support for the programs of CIFAL Atlanta in 2005.

Objectives of the Workshop

• To give local authorities in South America a better understanding of Free Trade Agreements and their impact on local communities

• To facilitate the creation of a new space for dialogue and methodology for best practices sharing among peers

• To develop a closer relationship with local authorities of South America while positioning CIFAL Atlanta as a useful resource for their capacity building efforts

• To enhance the strategic alliance between FLACMA and CIFAL Atlanta

Contents of Workshop

Conferences:

Bilateral Free Trade Negotiations: The US-Andean FTA actual status
• Ambassador Hernando Gomez, FTA Chief Negotiator, Colombia

Experiences of Free Trade Agreements impact on local communities
• Pedro Sabat, President of FLACMA

Best practice sharing: The Coastal Project
• Enrique Riera, Mayor of Asuncion, Paraguay

Knowledge management and best practice sharing
• Alex Mejia, Program Director, CIFAL Atlanta

Workshops:

An insider’s view of FTAA areas of negotiation
• Moderator: Ambassador Hernando Gomez, Colombia

Anticipating and planning for FTAA outcomes in your community
• Moderator: Pedro Sabat, President of FLACMA

Panel:

An insider’s view of the US-Andean Free Trade Agreement
• Regina Vargo, Deputy U. S. Trade Representative
• Ambassador Pablo de la Flor, FTA Chief Negotiator, Peru
• Ambassador Hernando Gomez, FTA Chief Negotiator, Colombia
• Ambassador Christian Espinoza, FTA Chief Negotiator, Ecuado

Remarks:

• Mayor Shirley Franklin, City of Atlanta
• Cathy Cox, Secretary of State, State of Georgia
• Mayor Bob Walkup, City of Tucson
• Congressman Jim Kolbe (D) AZ, United States House of Representatives
• Boris Kozolchyk, Director, National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade
• Congressman Andre Zacharow, Brazil Federal Congress
• Senator Celso Jaque, Senate of the Republic of Argentina

Moderators:

• Alex Mejia, Program Director, CIFAL Atlanta
• Axel Leblois, Executive Director, CIFAL Atlanta

Participants and Logistics

18 participants from South America Countries including Mayors, Congressmen, Senators and Presidents of municipal federations were invited. CIFAL received 14 confirmations from 7 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Panama and Paraguay.

Participants arrived in Atlanta on Sunday, November 28 and convened at the new Intercontinental Buckhead Hotel. On Tuesday November 30, the group flew to Tucson, Arizona, where participants were able to take part in the inauguration of the US-Andean Free Trade Agreement Negotiations, meet with a variety of leading interested parties and complete the workshop agenda including the adoption of conclusions and guidelines for municipalities. They returned to Atlanta on Wednesday, December 1, to depart to their respective countries or to participate of a city tour of Atlanta the next day.

Following is a list of the participants to the workshop:

Conclusions of the workshop

At the endof the program, the participants met in a closed session with CIFAL moderators only to wrap-up the discussions and gathering of information achieved during this intense 3 day workshop. The following 10 best practices guidelines for municipalities dealing with free trade issues were adopted by unanimous vote:

1. The Municipality participates to a national consensus building process setting the priorities of free trade negotiations, and its national municipal association is consulted by Central Governments to participate alongside other representatives of Civil Society and the Private Sector
   
   
2. The Municipality has a strategic planning process in place, including a detailed sectorial analysis of its economy, infrastructure requirements, a model of the impact of free trade on its constituents and of social changes and migration patterns to be expected.
   
   
3. The Municipality has an ongoing consensus building process including all its constituents in order to obtain the "buy-in" of its economic analysis, modeling, priorities setting for free trade negotiations, and to support its economic transition policies and programs
   
   
4. Incentives are in place to attract and support industries which will benefit from free trade and create employment
   
   
5. Plans are defined and implemented for the reconversion of human capital via training programs and incentives for those sectors expected to decline in a free trade environment
   
   
6. The Municipality develops strategies to finance the cost of its economic transition policies and programs including applying for grants with development agencies and negotiating with central authorities special budget allocations
   
   
7. The Municipality pursues an aggressive plan for export promotion and commercial diplomacy in support of its local business community, especially local mid and small size enterprises
   
   
8. Lobbying is a priority on the agenda of the Municipality, its Mayor and Council, with appropriate human resources invested in this effort
   
   
9. The Municipality maintains an open dialogue approach with all constituents and develops expertise in conflict resolution throughout its top executive team
   
   
10. The Municipality develops its middle managers skills in Strategic and Operational Planning in order to ensure their buy-in and proper implementation of its goals, policies and programs