Americas Competitiveness Forum: Promoting Prosperity and Economic Opportunity

Bolivian students pay attention and take notes during the educator’s explanation about NASA’s space program. Photo U.S. Embassy

The U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez is hosting the Americas Competitiveness Forum (ACF), held June 11-12 in Atlanta, Georgia. Joining Gutierrez are U.S. Secretary of Treasury Henry M. Paulson and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, as well as senior officials from twenty Western Hemisphere nations.

The Americas Competitiveness Forum presents a unique opportunity for Latin American businesses and governments to share best practices with leaders from across the region on making Latin American economies more competitive, and attract and retain both domestic and foreign investment.

Bolivian students watch NASA educator’s explanations about the space and then ask questions to an astronaut. Photo U.S. Embassy

Secretary Gutierrez expressed: “The Americas Competitiveness Forum is an excellent opportunity for government and private sector leaders to discuss policies and strategies that attract investment and promote economic prosperity throughout the Western Hemisphere. Global competition is increasing and this innovative forum will bring key public and private-sector leaders together to discuss ways to make the Americas more competitive in the international marketplace.”

The ACF provides a venue for government ministers from the Western Hemisphere and leaders from the private sector, academia, and non-governmental organizations to explore cutting edge ideas and best practices in several key areas of competitiveness. Each day is filled with dynamic plenary speakers and breakout sessions.

NASA educator interacts with Bolivian students during the digital video conference. Photo U.S. Embassy

As part of the Forum, there was a digital video conference session on June 11, from 10:30 – 11:00AM, in which an astronaut answered video taped questions posted by both U.S. and Bolivian high school students in a previous DVC with a NASA educator. The topic of the discussion was the importance of science education and its goal was to motivate Bolivian students to pursue careers in the sciences.

For more information regarding the ACF, please visit: http://trade.gov/competitiveness/acf/index.asp.