Initiative to Create a Western
Hemisphere Free Trade Area by the Year 2005

WHAT IS THE FTAA?

At the Summit of the Americas (SOA) December 1994 in Miami, Heads of State and Governments from 34 countries throughout the Hemisphere agreed to construct the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), stretching from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, by the year 2005. Creating the FTAA is a complex process, involving government officials participating in working groups in a wide range of trade and investment areas, and ministers meeting regularly in Trade Ministerials to decide key issues. Representatives from the region's business community, brought together at Business Forums, provide recommendations to governments in an effort to facilitate achievement of the FTAA.

WHO IS INVOLVED?

The 34 democratically elected governments of the Hemisphere and many in the private sector, including the business community who meet in Business Forums to develop and present recommendations for trade ministers' consideration in constructing the FTAA.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS TO ACHIEVE THE FTAA?

Since the 1994 Miami Summit of the Americas, hemispheric trade ministers and business leaders have met together twice -- in Denver in 1995, and Cartagena, Colombia in 1996 -- and will next meet in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in the second quarter of 1997, and Costa Rica in 1998.

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