Thursday, June 11, 2009

NAFTA Institute Conference Starts Today in Sunland Park

The annual Supplier Meet the Buyer Conference hosted by the NAFTA Institute will begin today at the Signature Showroom in the Sunland Park Casino.

This year the program for the conference has been organized in part by Jerry Pacheco, perhaps the most knowledgeable person on New Mexico-Mexico trade issues. Pacheco, you may recall, has a popular weekly column in the Albuquerque Journal dealing with border issues. He is also executive director of the New Mexico Business Accelerator, formed in 2003 to help businesses in New Mexico and Mexico to link up with each other as a stimulus to U.S.-Mexico trade.

And the program reflects this expertise, including updates on the Punta Colonet Port project near Ensenada, the Union Pacific's Santa Teresa rail project, and the Foxconn San Jeronimo project. All three of these projects will have a significant impact on the flow of international trade through Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

Other topics include issues of financing and venture capital in difficult times, talks on issues of security and trade, alternative energy on the border, and a review of trade issues and conditions in the El Paso-Juarez corridor, the Arizona-Sonora corridor, and the Valley corridor in South Texas. A keynote speech will be given by Patty Stecik, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Domestic Operations, U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service.

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