Miami Herald | By JANE BUSSEY | June 22, 2003
With just five months left before Miami is scheduled to host the region's trade ministers for a summit, organizers are still scrambling for the bulk of the $12 million needed for the event.
Fundraisers have elicited about $1 million from private-sector donors, putting them halfway toward the goal set by Florida FTAA Inc. State government has pledged about $1 million.
The problem is that not only did Miami-Dade County request double that amount in state support but that the federal government has yet to confirm that it will agree to the county's request for $7 million to underwrite security costs.
Concerns over local fundraising come on top of a General Accounting Office report warning that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is both understaffed and underfunded as it prepares for the meeting of 34 trade ministers charged with making progress on a free trade accord for the hemisphere.
''Important risks are already apparent in current U.S. plans for hosting the November 2003 Miami ministerial meeting,'' read a May 13 statement by Loren Yager, director of International Affairs and Trade at the GAO, the nonpartisan investigative wing of Congress.
''Intense efforts are needed to fill the remaining gaps in the areas of expertise, planning, funding and security,'' read the statement, titled ``Free Trade Area of the Americas: United States Faces Challenges as Co-Chair of Final Negotiating Phase and Host of November 2003 Ministerial.''
Christopher A. Padilla, assistant U.S. trade representative for intergovernmental affairs and public liaison, said the USTR had stepped up its organizing efforts and was confident that the funds would be available.
He called the successful June 6 signing ceremony for the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement in the city a sign that organizers could pull together meetings.
''That is an indication of the level of support,'' he said in a phone interview.
''I think the [GAO] report said it sounds like the people in Miami are coming together well,'' said Chuck Cobb, who heads Florida FTAA, a nonprofit created to help land the headquarters for the FTAA in Miami.
Padilla said the USTR also had a 13-member staff organizing the Nov. 21 meeting, where 34 trade ministers are expected to discuss the progress of negotiations for the free-trade area.
''We believe we are in very good shape on the planning for the ministerial,'' he said.
Despite the county's disappointment in not receiving all the requested state funding, officials are optimistic about the federal funding, according to Joe Ramallo, director of intergovernmental affairs in the office of Mayor Alex Penelas.
The November meeting is Miami's best shot to show Western Hemisphere leaders that South Florida would be the best location for the headquarters of the proposed free-trade area, which would stretch from Canada to Chile.
In addition to the trade ministers' meeting, to take place at the Hotel Inter-Continental on Friday, Nov. 21, the Americas Business Forum and the Americas Trade and Sustainable Development Forum are scheduled to take place at nearby locations earlier in the week.
The official participants are also expected to be joined by protesters -- anywhere from 20,000 to 100,000 -- according to official estimates.
PLAYING CATCH-UP
The GAO report underscores how organizers are still seeking to catch up with the arrangements.
Although the selection of Miami as the location for the trade ministers' meeting was announced by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick in September, the full team of Florida organizers wasn't in place until June.
Former Ambassador Cobb was named chair of the Florida FTAA, and Miami developer Armando Codina, a former business partner of Gov. Jeb Bush, was selected to serve as president of the Americas Business Forum.
Former Republican fundraiser Jorge Arrizurieta was named executive director, and Luis Lauredo, former ambassador to the Organization of American States, became executive director of the group organizing the trade ministers' meeting.
Recently, independent consultant Melissa Cloud was added to the team -- to raise money.
''If, in fact, that federal money does not come,'' Cobb said, ``the three cities and the county have said they will fund those costs but at great hardship to the cities and county.''
Leaders of the Miami host committee have been crisscrossing the state, attending gatherings of local business executives or chambers of commerce, to try to drum up dollars.
Sounding like a politician on the campaign hustings, Cobb recently spoke at a Broward County dinner organized by the International Business Council of South Florida.
''What a great night! What a great statement of unity!'' he said. ``We need your help. We need your participation.''
The success of the meeting will also reflect the U.S. government's roll as co-chair, along with Brazil, of the negotiating process and is needed to boost morale for the flagging talks.
The GAO said poor planning and lack of funding contributed to the failure of the last major trade event held in the United States, the December 1999 World Trade Organization ministerial in Seattle.
SECURITY CONCERNS
Street battles over the issue of globalization further poisoned an already contaminated atmosphere, as ministers could not agree to launch a new round of trade talks.
The $28 million bill for the Seattle conference was more than three times the $9 million estimate. Security charges came to $14 million.
The GAO report raised the issue that the USTR's staff was stretched too thin by of an overly ambitious agenda of trade negotiations. The USTR has only four staff members devoted to co-chairing the FTAA negotiations, according to the report.
While at least one staffer is expected to be loaned by the State Department starting this month, both Canada and Ecuador, as previous co-chairs, had eight people devoted to co-chairing and hosting.
The report also questioned the USTR's ''limited institutional experience'' in planning such meetings and the scant support it was receiving from other federal agencies like the State Department.
Padilla, however, said the Miami organizing team was handling what the State Department team usually did: contract companies for the specialized services.Miami Herald:
