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Nathalie Gras
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
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Miguel Angel Rodriguez and Eric Farnsworth are panelists at "prospects for a FTAA" conference

LOS ANGELES, November 18, 2002 – Former Costa Rica President Miguel Angel Rodriguez, who chairs Manatt Jones Global Strategies’ International Advisory Board, and Eric Farnsworth, a Government and Policy Advisor at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and Managing Director of ManattJones, and will speak at the “Prospects For a FTAA” conference November 21 in Washington, D.C.  The conference is sponsored by George Washington University’s Center for Latin American Issues (CLAI), part of GWU’s School of Business and Public Management.

President Rodriguez and Mr. Farnsworth will participate on a panel discussing opportunities under the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the planned 34-country trading bloc that would significantly reduce and eliminate trade barriers throughout the Western Hemisphere.  The conference will bring together U.S. and regional experts – representing government, the international financial community, and the private sector – to examine the negotiations, the challenges negotiators face, and some of the potential effects of an FTAA on individual economic sectors and the region.

Involved in Costa Rican and Central American politics for more than 30 years, President Rodriguez ended his term of office in May after establishing himself as a leader in the region’s democratic and economic development.  As president, he attracted foreign investment and negotiated and strengthened free trade agreements throughout Central and South America as well as with Canada. 

Mr. Farnsworth serves as an international strategic consultant on business facilitation efforts with U.S. corporations overseas and foreign entities in Washington.  He is the former Policy Director to the Counselor to the President and Special Envoy for the Americas.  While at the White House, Mr. Farnsworth worked for the achievement of long-term goals such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

CLAI engages in scholarly research and study of Latin American issues.  Through programs and activities, CLAI seeks to further study and research of major Latin American issues and how they affect the interests of states within and beyond the region.

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP provides legal and consulting services to domestic and international clients from offices in Los Angeles, Orange County, Palo Alto and Sacramento, Calif.; Washington D.C.; and Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico.  Its wholly owned subsidiary, Manatt Jones Global Strategies, LLC, develops and implements strategies to expand clients’ businesses and facilitate their effective competition in global markets. For more information, visit www.manatt.com and www.manattjones.com.

For more information about the teleconference, please visit www.gwe.edu