Florida Promoting Central American Trade Pact

By Eric Green, Washington File

State aims to boost trade with Central America, Dominican Republic

The U.S. state of Florida is launching a marketing campaign designed to help the Florida business community capitalize on the opportunities presented by a recently enacted U.S. trade pact, known by the acronym CAFTA-DR, with five Central American nations and the Dominican Republic.

The campaign, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Commerce, includes education and marketing outreach efforts to increase trade between Florida and the countries in the CAFTA-DR agreement, which President Bush signed into law August 2, 2005. (See related article.)

The campaign is being launched by a group called Enterprise Florida, a partnership between the Florida state government and Floridian business leaders.

Lisa Nason, Enterprise Florida's vice president for communications and organizational development, said in a January 12 interview that her group will establish at the end of January a CAFTA-DR information, research and data Web site to help the Florida business community better understand the mechanics of carrying out international trade with the CAFTA-DR nations.

Nason said that collectively, the six nations in CAFTA-DR are Florida's Number 1 trading partner. Florida's main exports, she said, include computer products, aviation and aerospace equipment, fertilizers and telecommunications and medical equipment.

CAFTA-DR is designed to eliminate trade, investment and business barriers between the United States and the 45 million people in the Dominican Republic and the five Central American nations that signed the trade pact - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

In announcing the new marketing campaign December 14, 2005, Florida Governor Jeb Bush said that Florida - as the "gateway to the Americas" - will lead the United States in implementing the CAFTA-DR agreement, "signifying the vital role Florida plays in the world market."

Susan Story, Enterprise Florida board of directors vice chair, said her state looks forward to a "new frontier of international trade and foreign direct investment possibilities" with the CAFTA-DR countries. She said information-based technology industries providing software and legal and financial services "will continue to grow exponentially as our relationships with [CAFTA-DR] countries become even stronger."

For additional information, see Central America Free Trade Agreement-Dominican Republic.

Source: U.S. Department of State

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