Salvadoran President addresses the Americas Competitiveness Forum
August 18, 2008

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez listen to Salvadoran President Saca’s intervention at the second Americas Competitiveness Forum (ACF), in Atlanta, Georgia.

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On August 18, Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca addressed the second Americas Competitiveness Forum (ACF), in Atlanta, Georgia.  Saca, along with the President of Colombia Alvaro Uribe, and the President of Guatemala Alvaro Colom are the special guests who will share their  experience with more than one thousand participants from 34 countries throughout the Americas, including government ministers, business executives, academics, and representatives from non-government and international organizations.

In his remarks President Saca said: “during this decade we have focused in creating the foundations for a global economy, with the US dollar as our currency, open to foreign investment, and in ten years our country has been recognized as being the second economy most open to do business in all of Latin America.”

“El Salvador was the first country to implement CAFTA with the US.  In March, two days after CAFTA’s entry into force, data shows that El Salvador has had one of the fastest growths in exports.   Between the first and second years with CAFTA our exports to the US grew 5.6%, which amounts to more than two billion dollars”, said President Saca.

“I am very pleased to participate in this fruitful hemispheric dialogue which began last year in this vibrant city, to seriously discuss how to elevate our countries competitiveness to promote prosperity and economic opportunities for our people”, he said.

US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and Mayor of Atlanta Shirley Franklin are co-hosting the forum scheduled to end on August 19. The ACF will facilitate a dialogue on how to increase competitiveness in the Western Hemisphere, with high level discussions on trade, business, economic development, renewable energy, tourism, investment, and market development.