City of Miami

Latin CEO: Executive Strategies for the Americas, August-Sept, 2002

Flordia.

MANUEL A. DIAZ

MAYOR

P.O. BOX 330708

MIAMI, FLORIDA 33233-0708

(305) 250-5300

FAX (305) 854-4001

Dear Hemispheric Leaders:

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which will form a 34-nation free trading market encompassing all democratic nations in the Western Hemisphere, is on track for 2005. The FTAA, which was first conceived in the City of Miami in 1994 during the Summit of the Americas, will represent around 800 million people and a collective annual GOP of approximately $14 trillion in goods and services. As such the FTAA will become the largest trading block in the world.

I strongly believe that the City of Miami is the ideal location for the FTAA's Permanent Secretariat. Miami has long been recognized as one of the great global hubs for trade and commerce, international finance and foreign investment, and is located near major land, air, and sea transportation centers.

As the recognized "Gateway to the Americas," companies worldwide have realized that if they want to do business in Latin America, they would be best served to have offices in the City of Miami. Certainly, the diversity of our multilingual population, which has helped create the city's robust and diverse professional climate, is an asset that all organizations and individuals -- in the private and public sectors alike - can benefit from, along with our strategic location at the center of the Western Hemisphere. In this sense, it is our privileged geopolitical selling combined with our varied multicultural profile that allows us to maintain such ongoing successful economic relations with all the Latin America markets. The City of Miami truly looks like the Western Hemisphere which it serves.

I am also proud to note that the City of Miami has the resources to make locating here a smart business decision, including a rapidly growing skilled workforce, low cost industrial and commercial land, fast track permitting, business and tax incentives, no state property or income taxes, and powerful community partners. All of this is supported by a local government that is staffed by a cadre of competent public administrators who are dedicated to providing the highest levels of professional assistance and guidance.

In closing I strongly encourage all local and international corporate, individual, private, and public leaders to participate in this important effort to bring the FTAA Permanent Secretariat to the "Gateway to the Americas," -- the City of Miami, Florida.

Cordially,