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IDB Says CAFTA Negotiations On Track To Conclude Successfully in 2003 14 April 2003 (Announcement echoes U.S. goal to finish talks this year) (390) Washington -- Negotiations to establish a free-trade agreement between the United States and five Central American nations are on track and could conclude successfully in 2003, says Enrique Iglesias, president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Iglesias said in an April 11 statement that the negotiations are "going very well" on the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). He added that the Central American countries "show great confidence" in finishing the talks, "while there is good disposition on the U.S. side." The IDB announcement echoes the U.S. goal to finish the talks in 2003. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said April 10 that President Bush and the United States are "strongly committed" to Central America and CAFTA. "CAFTA is certainly a signal of the United States' ongoing commitment to the hemisphere during a period that we know is marked with difficulties," Zoellick said. Zoellick said the talks were going according to schedule. "We feel all the signs are positive, we are making excellent progress on the issues," Zoellick said. "We believe we are on track to finish the free-trade agreement this year." The IDB's Iglesias said a key issue for Central America, as well as for other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, is the need for multilateral trade talks on access to markets and agricultural protectionism. Iglesias reiterated the IDB's commitment to support CAFTA and prepare Central America's economies to take "full advantage of the opportunities and challenges that free trade agreements entail." Iglesias hosted a reception in Washington April 10 for the leaders of the five Central American nations in CAFTA -- Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua -- after they had met earlier in the day with Bush and Zoellick to discuss the progress achieved so far in the trade talks launched in January. Subsequent CAFTA negotiations have taken place in Costa Rica, Cincinnati, Ohio, and El Salvador. The IDB is also backing Central America's integration efforts under Plan Puebla Panama, which seeks, among other goals, to strengthen and improve the region's major highways and power transmission grids. The plan also calls for regional cooperation on social and environmental programs and on natural disaster prevention. |
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