Following in Miami's footsteps, Georgia officials and the captains of Atlanta's leading companies have established a nonprofit corporation to pilot their bid to land the secretariat of a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Hemisphere Inc. was rolled out this week as a vehicle to push Georgia's efforts to become a future location of the as-yet-undefined secretariat, a goal high on Miami's wish list.
Atlanta launched its pursuit two years ago, several years after Miami leaders thought the city had a lock on being the U.S. candidate for the secretariat site. Mexico, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago have also thrown their hats into the ring.
Thirty-four nations from the hemisphere -- all of them except Cuba -- have set a 2005 deadline to complete negotiations on a trade and investment treaty. Washington has launched its own initiatives, including an accord with Chile and five Central American nations, as multilateral talks have bogged down.
The Free Trade Area of the Americas secretariat would be the headquarters for regional officials to handle the day-to-day business of the accord. On Monday, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue announced the creation of Hemisphere Inc., saying it included ``the state's best and brightest from both the public and private sectors.''
''Targeting the FTAA Secretariat is just the latest in Georgia's investment in international economic growth,'' said Perdue, who will chair the corporation's board.
Big corporate names like BellSouth, CNN, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Equifax and UPS have headquarters in Atlanta. Florida, meanwhile, has Florida FTAA Inc., a nonprofit corporation headed by Gov. Jeb Bush. And, in November, Miami will play host to the next meeting of hemispheric trade ministers, where the FTAA is to be discussed.
Kevin Langston, director of communications for Georgia's Department of Industry, Trade & Tourism, said his state had some $2 million in contributions for the FTAA effort, including money pledged for the future and $250,000 appropriated by the Georgia General Assembly in this year's state budget.
''This is part of a longer-term strategy to position Atlanta and Georgia as a gateway to the Americas,'' Langston said. ``Certainly, the FTAA secretariat is a part of that strategy, but it is not the whole strategy.''
Langston also discounted the conventional wisdom in Florida that, between Washington politics and location, Miami has no competition in the United States.
''We think there is a very good case for locating the secretariat here,'' said Langston, citing a large infrastructure of business, transportation and tourism along with a large corporate community.
Members of the trade community in Miami met recently with Commerce Undersecretary Grant Aldonas and asked that the federal government select Miami as the U.S. choice for a secretariat site to head off the competition.
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