atlantaguy
01-30-2007, 11:54 AM
Atlanta's Americas trade dream fizzles out
$4 million-plus pitch to land headquarters raised city's overall profile, supporters say
By DAN CHAPMAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/30/07
It was touted as the development coup of a generation, an opportunity to stamp Atlanta firmly into the global consciousness alongside New York, Brussels and Geneva.
Once the presidents and prime ministers of 34 American nations approved the free-trade deal — NAFTA on steroids — Atlanta would win the organization's headquarters. Hundreds of diplomats, attorneys, traders and bankers would transform the city's proposed Center for the Americas into a mini-United Nations or European Union. Georgia would reap billions in revenue.
Four years and more than $4 million later, though, the dream is dead. Political and economic realities sundered chances for the Free Trade Area of the Americas and, consequently, the need for a headquarters.
But Atlanta business and political leaders insist the effort and the expense undertaken by Hemisphere Inc. are nonetheless paying dividends.
"All along, Hemisphere Inc.'s vision was to position the state and the city in a more visible way in Latin America and the Caribbean," said Jose Ignacio Gonzalez, the former executive director of the nonprofit that closed its doors Dec. 31. "We knocked on a lot of doors to get accepted as a player on the global scene."
Since 1994, free-trade advocates have sought a duty-free union stretching from Canada to Chile where goods and services would flow with little interruption from borders, taxes or regulations. A secretariat would referee cross-border trade and investment disputes for the hemisphere's 800 million citizens.
Nearly a dozen cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Cancun, Mexico, and Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, vied for the headquarters. Miami, the self-proclaimed "gateway to the Americas," with strong immigration, business and travel links to the region, was considered the U.S. front-runner.
"I couldn't imagine a scenario where Atlanta would get the headquarters," said Terry McCoy, director of the Latin American Business Environment Program at the University of Florida. "People paid more attention to Miami."
Undaunted, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce rallied its members, Gov. Sonny Perdue and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. The chamber crowd contributed about half the $4 million-$5 million, with the General Assembly and the city kicking in the rest.
Hemisphere Inc. was created in February 2003 with a goal of boosting hemispheric trade and investment and, primarily, landing the FTAA secretariat. The money went for travel, staff and promotional materials. Gonzalez said he traveled the region sometimes three weeks each month meeting government and business officials.
Perdue and Franklin lobbied presidents and prime ministers in a handful of Latin America and Caribbean nations. Former President Jimmy Carter, ex-Mayor and U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, and even baseball player Andruw Jones gave video testimonials to Atlanta's worthiness. Neighboring governors and mayors penned letters of support.
$10 million headquarters
In March 2004, Hemisphere Inc.'s backers unveiled snazzy drawings depicting a $10 million, privately financed headquarters complex to be built near Centennial Olympic Park, Atlantic Station, the Carter Center or College Park. The University of Georgia estimated a secretariat would bring $500 million annually to the region's economy and create 27,000 jobs within a decade.
By then, though, it was clear the FTAA was doomed. U.S. influence in the region had waned ever since the fateful 2003 World Trade Organization gathering in Cancun, which ended in anti-Washington protests. Later that year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said joining the FTAA was "like committing suicide," and protests against trade and globalization continued in Miami.
Hemisphere Inc. shifted gears. The secretariat was placed on the back burner; boosting business, diplomatic and educational links between Georgia and the region took precedence.
"The secretariat is a political thing, and sometimes trade and politics don't match," Gonzalez said in an interview last week. "We de-emphasized pursuit of the secretariat, and [that] gave us more time to brand Atlanta in the hemisphere."
Gonzalez and others credit Hemisphere Inc. for helping lure a variety of businesses, consulates, conferences and more to Atlanta. Atlanta is the North American home for CIFAL, a United Nations-affiliated training program for the region's mayors, governors, executives and civil-society leaders. Chaired by Franklin, CIFAL Atlanta focuses on urbanization, the environment, information technology and development. Gonzalez said 35 programs will be held in Atlanta this year.
The Sumaq Summit, held annually in Atlanta since 2004, provides executive education to business leaders across the Americas and Spain. Four hundred businessmen and academicians attended last year's summit
Increased ties
Over the last two years, Peru, Guatemala and El Salvador have established consulates in Atlanta; Brazil is expected to soon reopen its diplomatic post. In June 2002, Delta Air Lines flew nonstop to 21 cities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Today, Delta flies to 60 destinations across the region.
"The [secretariat] headquarters would be the icing on the cake," said Sam Williams, the chamber's president. "But the cake is the consular offices, the air routes, the relationships in place, CIFAL, Sumaq. We've got credibility. And nobody got the icing. We'll be back."
Nobody, though, expects any movement on a hemisphere-wide free-trade zone.
"I don't see any hope at all," said professor McCoy. "None of the major players, primarily the U.S. and Brazil, are willing to make the hard decisions. The political costs are too high and not worth it."
Instead, the United States seeks bilateral deals with countries like Peru and Colombia hoping that, someday, a patchwork of Latin American trade agreements will be knitted together into an FTAA. Miami, Atlanta's main U.S. competition for the secretariat (Port-of-Spain, though, was considered the overall front-runner), hasn't disbanded its FTAA office.
Florida FTAA now focuses on trade, investment and alternative fuel. It hopes to parlay contacts in the region, particularly with Brazil, into "a global commodity market for ethanol," according to its Web site (www.floridaftaa.org).
Gonzalez prefers renewable energy from the sun and the wind. He's the managing partner of Hemisphere Trade Services Inc., a private development firm seeking solar and wind investments in the Americas, China and Spain.
Although the nonprofit remains legally alive, the chamber and the Georgia Department of Commerce will carry much of its load.
"The worst thing we can do from a state perspective is to lower our guards," said Gonzalez, 52. "It will require a longer term to get the community fully engaged in global commerce. We're on the right path, but we're not there yet."
THE FORMER RIVALS
Major cities in the Americas such as these pursued the FTAA headquarters. Port-of-Spain was considered the overall front-runner, and Miami was believed the leader among U.S. cities.
• Atlanta
• Brasilia, Brazil
• Cancun, Mexico
• Chicago
• Houston
• Miami
• Panama City, Panama
• Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
• Puebla, Mexico
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
$4 million-plus pitch to land headquarters raised city's overall profile, supporters say
By DAN CHAPMAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/30/07
It was touted as the development coup of a generation, an opportunity to stamp Atlanta firmly into the global consciousness alongside New York, Brussels and Geneva.
Once the presidents and prime ministers of 34 American nations approved the free-trade deal — NAFTA on steroids — Atlanta would win the organization's headquarters. Hundreds of diplomats, attorneys, traders and bankers would transform the city's proposed Center for the Americas into a mini-United Nations or European Union. Georgia would reap billions in revenue.
Four years and more than $4 million later, though, the dream is dead. Political and economic realities sundered chances for the Free Trade Area of the Americas and, consequently, the need for a headquarters.
But Atlanta business and political leaders insist the effort and the expense undertaken by Hemisphere Inc. are nonetheless paying dividends.
"All along, Hemisphere Inc.'s vision was to position the state and the city in a more visible way in Latin America and the Caribbean," said Jose Ignacio Gonzalez, the former executive director of the nonprofit that closed its doors Dec. 31. "We knocked on a lot of doors to get accepted as a player on the global scene."
Since 1994, free-trade advocates have sought a duty-free union stretching from Canada to Chile where goods and services would flow with little interruption from borders, taxes or regulations. A secretariat would referee cross-border trade and investment disputes for the hemisphere's 800 million citizens.
Nearly a dozen cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Cancun, Mexico, and Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, vied for the headquarters. Miami, the self-proclaimed "gateway to the Americas," with strong immigration, business and travel links to the region, was considered the U.S. front-runner.
"I couldn't imagine a scenario where Atlanta would get the headquarters," said Terry McCoy, director of the Latin American Business Environment Program at the University of Florida. "People paid more attention to Miami."
Undaunted, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce rallied its members, Gov. Sonny Perdue and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. The chamber crowd contributed about half the $4 million-$5 million, with the General Assembly and the city kicking in the rest.
Hemisphere Inc. was created in February 2003 with a goal of boosting hemispheric trade and investment and, primarily, landing the FTAA secretariat. The money went for travel, staff and promotional materials. Gonzalez said he traveled the region sometimes three weeks each month meeting government and business officials.
Perdue and Franklin lobbied presidents and prime ministers in a handful of Latin America and Caribbean nations. Former President Jimmy Carter, ex-Mayor and U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, and even baseball player Andruw Jones gave video testimonials to Atlanta's worthiness. Neighboring governors and mayors penned letters of support.
$10 million headquarters
In March 2004, Hemisphere Inc.'s backers unveiled snazzy drawings depicting a $10 million, privately financed headquarters complex to be built near Centennial Olympic Park, Atlantic Station, the Carter Center or College Park. The University of Georgia estimated a secretariat would bring $500 million annually to the region's economy and create 27,000 jobs within a decade.
By then, though, it was clear the FTAA was doomed. U.S. influence in the region had waned ever since the fateful 2003 World Trade Organization gathering in Cancun, which ended in anti-Washington protests. Later that year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said joining the FTAA was "like committing suicide," and protests against trade and globalization continued in Miami.
Hemisphere Inc. shifted gears. The secretariat was placed on the back burner; boosting business, diplomatic and educational links between Georgia and the region took precedence.
"The secretariat is a political thing, and sometimes trade and politics don't match," Gonzalez said in an interview last week. "We de-emphasized pursuit of the secretariat, and [that] gave us more time to brand Atlanta in the hemisphere."
Gonzalez and others credit Hemisphere Inc. for helping lure a variety of businesses, consulates, conferences and more to Atlanta. Atlanta is the North American home for CIFAL, a United Nations-affiliated training program for the region's mayors, governors, executives and civil-society leaders. Chaired by Franklin, CIFAL Atlanta focuses on urbanization, the environment, information technology and development. Gonzalez said 35 programs will be held in Atlanta this year.
The Sumaq Summit, held annually in Atlanta since 2004, provides executive education to business leaders across the Americas and Spain. Four hundred businessmen and academicians attended last year's summit
Increased ties
Over the last two years, Peru, Guatemala and El Salvador have established consulates in Atlanta; Brazil is expected to soon reopen its diplomatic post. In June 2002, Delta Air Lines flew nonstop to 21 cities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Today, Delta flies to 60 destinations across the region.
"The [secretariat] headquarters would be the icing on the cake," said Sam Williams, the chamber's president. "But the cake is the consular offices, the air routes, the relationships in place, CIFAL, Sumaq. We've got credibility. And nobody got the icing. We'll be back."
Nobody, though, expects any movement on a hemisphere-wide free-trade zone.
"I don't see any hope at all," said professor McCoy. "None of the major players, primarily the U.S. and Brazil, are willing to make the hard decisions. The political costs are too high and not worth it."
Instead, the United States seeks bilateral deals with countries like Peru and Colombia hoping that, someday, a patchwork of Latin American trade agreements will be knitted together into an FTAA. Miami, Atlanta's main U.S. competition for the secretariat (Port-of-Spain, though, was considered the overall front-runner), hasn't disbanded its FTAA office.
Florida FTAA now focuses on trade, investment and alternative fuel. It hopes to parlay contacts in the region, particularly with Brazil, into "a global commodity market for ethanol," according to its Web site (www.floridaftaa.org).
Gonzalez prefers renewable energy from the sun and the wind. He's the managing partner of Hemisphere Trade Services Inc., a private development firm seeking solar and wind investments in the Americas, China and Spain.
Although the nonprofit remains legally alive, the chamber and the Georgia Department of Commerce will carry much of its load.
"The worst thing we can do from a state perspective is to lower our guards," said Gonzalez, 52. "It will require a longer term to get the community fully engaged in global commerce. We're on the right path, but we're not there yet."
THE FORMER RIVALS
Major cities in the Americas such as these pursued the FTAA headquarters. Port-of-Spain was considered the overall front-runner, and Miami was believed the leader among U.S. cities.
• Atlanta
• Brasilia, Brazil
• Cancun, Mexico
• Chicago
• Houston
• Miami
• Panama City, Panama
• Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
• Puebla, Mexico
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
