Press Release

Gutierrez Announces the 2008 Americas Competitiveness Forum Participants

President Uribe and Leaders from 21 Western Hemisphere Nations to Attend

WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez announced that Presidents Uribe of Colombia, Colom of Guatemala, and Saca of El Salvador will attend the second annual Americas Competitiveness Forum (ACF), co-hosted with Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin on August 17-19 in Atlanta, Ga. More than 20 nations from the Western Hemisphere will be represented at the Forum by high-ranking government officials.

“I’m honored that President Uribe, President Colom, President Saca and other distinguished guests will join me to discuss the importance of global competitiveness,” Gutierrez said. “Together we have witnessed many significant reforms and experienced solid economic growth in the hemisphere, and feel more can be done to raise the standard of living for our citizens.”

Confirmed government participants representing the 33 democratically elected governments of the Western Hemisphere include:

• His Excellency Álvaro Uribe Vélez, President of the Republic of Colombia
• His Excellency Álvaro Colom Caballeros, President of the Republic of Guatemala
• His Excellency Elias Antonio Saca Gonzalez, President of the Republic of El Salvador
• His Excellency Jaime Morales Carazo, Vice President of the Republic of Nicaragua
• Her Excellency Ana Vilma de Escobar, Vice President of the Republic of El Salvador
• More than 25 Ministers of Trade, Industry, Commerce and Education

Confirmed private sector participants include:

• Ray C. Anderson, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Interface, Inc.
• Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO, Research In Motion (RIM)
• Paul Bell, President, Americas, Dell, Inc.
• Eduardo Castro-Wright, President and Chief Executive Officer, Wal-Mart Stores, U.S.A.
• Ralph R. Peterson, Chairman and CEO, CH2M Hill
• Carl Schramm, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Confirmed participating members of the media include:

• Maria Elvira Salazar, Host, Maria Elvira Live, Mega TV
• Alberto Padilla, Anchor, CNN en Español
• Sergio Sarmiento, Journalist/Anchor, Reforma, La Red de Radio Red, TV Azteca
• Daniel Fernández Canedo, Editor in Chief, Clarin

ACF 2008 is an opportunity for government ministers to interact with leaders from the private sector, academia, and non-governmental organizations, to share ideas and best practices in several key areas of competitiveness during plenary and breakout sessions. The ACF 2008 topics will focus on trade logistics; travel and tourism; alliances in business and education; and renewable energy and sustainable resources.

For more information and to register, please visit http://www.competitivenessforum.org/.

Members of the media interested in covering the ACF must complete an application and submit it by fax to (404) 446-4171. The application can be downloaded at: http://competitivenessforum.com/ACF_Media_Application.pdf.