Inter-American Development Bank announced today the approval of a $650,000 grant for technical support and advisory services to advance the negotiating round for the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
The resources will ensure the advancement of negotiations that are designed to enable the participating countries to obtain full benefits in the process of economic globalization.
The IDB resources were made available in response to a request by trade ministers at the Toronto meeting in November 1999.
Negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas began in Miami, Florida, in 1994 with the goal of achieving a Western Hemisphere free trade area by 2005.
The Bank supports the negotiations and is a member of the Tripartite Committee, which consists of the IDB, the Organization of American States, and the United Nations Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean. The committee is in charge of overall technical support of the process.