Bank of America

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

Robert E. Hilson

Market President

100 Southeast 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33131-2100

Tel 305.533.2674

Fax 305.533.2030

September 23, 2002

Dear Hemispheric Leaders:

At the Summit of the Americas held in Miami in 1994 the Heads of State of the 34 democracies of the region agreed to construct a free market, stretching from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska, comprising 800 million consumers. This effort to unite the Western Hemisphere into the largest single free trade area in the world with a combined GOP of $14 trillion is expected to be completed by 2005.

Florida and Miami can expect to achieve significant economic gains from an FTAA treaty. Nearly half of US commerce with Latin America and the Caribbean flows through the state. Last year, Florida produced and exported more than $22.6 billion worth of manufactured items such as computers and electronics, transportation equipment, machinery and appliances. Florida Is the undisputed and de facto trade capital of the Americas. Florida already trades more with Latin America and the Caribbean than with other states in the union--Florida's ports account for 25% of U.S. merchandise trade with the region, in 2001 exports through Florida's gateways totaled $71 billion, and it ranks 35th of top exporters worldwide. Indeed, the state has a $1.5 billion merchandise trade with Chile alone.

Often described as the "Gateway of the Americas," Miami constitutes the economic, intellectual, and cultural crossroads for the Western Hemisphere. Miami's key location in the Hemisphere, expansive transportation system, state of the art communications facilities, abundance of human and educational resources, and cultural diversity provides the optimum location for the FTAA's Permanent Secretariat.

Above all, Miami espouses the values of inter-American cooperation and integration given its acclaim as a virtual melting pot of the Americas. It is the place where people from South America, Central America, North America and the Caribbean are accustomed to meeting and doing business together--the key location for conducting the business of the Americas. Sincerely

Robert E. Hilson

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