Ambassadors gather to discuss Central American trade opportunities

Date of Release: 08/03/2006

SAN MARCOS — Four U.S. ambassadors to Latin America will visit Texas State University-San Marcos Aug. 9 to participate in a U.S. Chamber of Commerce International Trade Education Program.

Titled “Business Opportunities for Central and South Texas: Expansion Through Trade with Central America and the Dominican Republic,” the program will run from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in the LBJ Student Center Ballroom on campus. The half-day event will educate and inform San Antonio and San Marcos’ small and medium-size businesses about the opportunities of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).

Ambassadors scheduled to attend are Jose Guillermo Castillo (Guatemala), Roberto Fores Bermúdez (Honduras), René León (El Salvador) and Salvador Stadthagen (Nicaragua). Other featured speakers include Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-28th), Jack Mogab, director of the Center for Latin American Commerce at Texas State, and Leslie Schweitzer, senior trade advisor for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The program will inform the Central and South Texas business community of new export opportunities resulting from DR-CAFTA, and provide export resources for those companies interested in exporting to Central America. The program includes U.S. government experts discussing various export development resources available to small and medium-size businesses. In addition, the Central American ambassadors will highlight the export opportunities in their respective country. Significantly, the program puts a human face on trade. By sharing the success stories of local companies that have already entered the DR-CAFTA marketplace, the goal is to encourage others to do the same.

The program is being co-hosted by the U.S. Chamber TradeRoots program, the McCoy College of Business Administration’s Center for Latin American Commerce, the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce, the San Marcos Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council, Economic Development San Marcos and the Free Trade Alliance of San Antonio.

For more information, please contact Liz Reilly at (202) 463-5428.