Visit of Secretary of Commerce to Guatemala

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 002495

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS USTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD EINV BEXP PREL OVIP GT
SUBJECT: Visit of Secretary of Commerce to Guatemala



1. Summary: Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez visited
Guatemala from October 16-18, 2005, leading a business
delegation of 19 U.S. companies as well as an interagency
group with top officials from OPIC, USTDA, EXIM, IDB/Treasury,
SBA and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). The
Secretary's CAFTA Business Development Mission also traveled

SIPDIS
to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and San Salvador, El Salvador.
The Secretary had a wide range of meetings and activities in
Guatemala focused on CAFTA, trade and investment and other key
U.S objectives in Central America. End Summary

HURRICANE STAN


2. The Secretary's started his program with a visit to
CONRED, Guatemala's equivalent of FEMA. He expressed his
sympathy on behalf of the USG for the ravages of Hurricane
Stan, which had left over 500 dead. He announced an
additional $2 million in funding of food aid via USAID and the
World Food Program of the UN.

CCAA CONFERENCE


3. On October 17, the Secretary gave the keynote address to a
one-day conference on CAFTA implementation organized by
Caribbean-Central American Action (CCAA),which also featured
President Berger, and top ministers and businessmen from
around the region and the Dominican Republic. During his
speech - and throughout his visit - the Secretary stressed the
need for countries to comply with CAFTA commitments so that
the President can certify to Congress that the signatories
have met all the legislative and administrative requirements
and CAFTA can be implemented by January 1. He also emphasized
the importance of the private sector in future development,
the need to improve the investment climate by upgrading legal
frameworks and protecting intellectual property, and the
benefits of increased linkages between Central America and the
United States.

MEDIA COVERAGE


4. The Secretary conducted a joint press conference to launch
the mission, along with Minister of Economy Marcio Cuevas,
which included U.S. company representatives and interagency
officials. The media gave the Secretary comprehensive and
very positive coverage throughout the three-day visit.

BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL MEETINGS


5. The Secretary held bilateral meetings with President
Berger and Economic Minister Cuevas, both of which included
other top ministers and officials. In these meetings he once
again stressed the need to focus on CAFTA implementation,
asking his interlocutors to make a final effort to allow
President Bush to certify CAFTA as ready to go. He stressed
that Congress would be scrutinizing the Agreement and
implementation process closely. The Secretary also hosted a
productive meeting and lunch with Central American and DR
trade ministers, as well as a roundtable with top regional
CEOs.

SITE VISITS


6. Secretary Gutierrez made site visits to successful U.S.
companies, including Frito Lay and San Diego-based PriceSmart,
as well as a major local textile plant exporting to the U.S.
(Koramsa). Exploring Guatemala's key agricultural sector, he
visited a coffee farm near historic Antigua, where he heard
presentations from the national coffee association (Anacafe),
non-traditional exporters association (Agexpront),and tourism
promotion agency (Inguat). While in Antigua, he spoke at an
ongoing IPR enforcement training seminar for Central American
judges and prosecutors hosted by Commerce's Patent and
Trademark Office.

AMCHAM AND U.S. BUSINESS EVENTS


7. The Secretary opened an American Chamber trade finance
seminar with SBA, EXIM, USTDA and OPIC with a keynote address,
and later hosted a roundtable with the heads of U.S. firms
represented in Guatemala. In this meeting, he heard at length
about both the difficulties and opportunities for U.S. firms
in Guatemala.

TRADE MISSION RESULTS


8. Over the course of the Guatemala visit, the 19 companies
and organizations represented on the mission met with 148
Guatemalan companies and government officials, as well as
attending several large events where they were could network.
The companies indicated that they saw significant
opportunities, and most expected some commercial success to
come from their visit. Many of the business delegation
members expressed their desire to continue to work in the
region and look for ways to maintain the momentum that passage
of CAFTA-DR provided for both U.S. and Central American
businesses.


9. This cable was cleared by the Department of Commerce.

Derham