Juan Manuel Santos, President of the Republic of Colombia; Carlos Slim, Founder, Carlos Slim Foundation; Luis Alberto Moreno, President, Inter-American Development Bank; Dr. Valentin Abe, Founder, Caribbean Harvest; Gustavo Cisneros, Chairman, The Cisneros Group of Companies; Vicky Colbert, Executive Director, Fundación Escuela Nueva; Henry Cisneros, Chairman, Citiview; Hernando de Soto, President, Institute for Liberty and Democracy; David Crane, President and CEO, NRG Energy; Emilio and Gloria Estefan, Estefan Enterprises; Frank Giustra, President and CEO, Fiore Financial Corporation; Stanley Motta, President, Motta Internacional; Thomas F. McLarty, Chairman, McLarty Associates; Jennifer Pryce, Founder and CEO, Calvert Foundation; Frank Rainieri, President Grupo Puntacana; Carlos Rodríguez-Pastor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Intercorp; Donna Shalala, President, University of Miami; Robert Zoellick, Chairman, Goldman Sachs’ International Advisors; are among leaders who will convene Dec. 11 in Miami, Florida to focus on improving shared prosperity across the western hemisphere
NEW YORK — Today, President Bill Clinton announced a roster of international leaders from the private and public sectors across Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States who will participate in a one-time Future of the Americas convening on December 11 at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida. This convening is part of President Clinton’s long-standing commitment to economic prosperity, investment, and innovation across the western hemisphere, through his work in office and post-presidency through the Clinton Foundation.
Twenty years after President Clinton convened the first Summit of the Americas, this convening will bring leaders together from across the hemisphere to create space for them to have a conversation about the next twenty years, with a focus on how to strengthen investment, jobs, health, and education. The Future of the Americas will complement the official Summit of the Americas in April 2015.
The agenda of President Clinton’s Future of the Americas convening will encourage cross-sector collaboration across Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States. Discussion topics will include energy, infrastructure, the environment, agriculture, small and medium-sized enterprises, women and girls, technology, chronic diseases, nutrition, primary education, and vocational training. This convening is a working meeting, with an emphasis on interactive, roundtable discussions.
“I'm looking forward to our Future of the Americas discussions in Miami. There’s been tremendous progress across our hemisphere since we first came together twenty years ago, and now more than ever, it’s clear the next twenty years in our hemisphere will depend largely on the actions that leaders from all sectors and countries take today,” said President Clinton. “This meeting will give people an opportunity to focus on key challenges and opportunities – around jobs, education, health and the need for inclusive political, economic, and social policies. I’m thankful for the leadership of the people who are participating, and hopeful that our discussions will re-energize their efforts to shape our shared future in ever more positive ways.”
Participants in the Future of the Americas discussions include Dr. Valentin Abe, Founder, Caribbean Harvest; Gastón Acurio, Chef, La Mar by Gastón Acurio; Fidel Andueza, Head of the Americas, Libra Group; Carlos Julio Ardila, Vice President of the Board, Organización Ardila Lülle; Steffano Bertozzi, Dean, School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley; Carlos Bulgheroni, CEO, Bridas Energy; Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo, President, Grupo Aval; Adriana Cisneros, CEO and Vice Chairman, The Cisneros Group of Companies; Gustavo Cisneros, Chairman, The Cisneros Group of Companies; Henry G. Cisneros, Executive Chairman, CityView Companies; Vicky Colbert, Executive Director, Fundación Escuela Nueva; David Crane, President and CEO, NRG Energy; Hernando de Soto, President, Institute for Liberty and Democracy; Jorge Errázuriz, Partner, BTG Pactual; Emilio and Gloria Estefan, Estefan Enterprises; Alfonso Fanjul, CEO, Fanjul Corp; Angélica Fuentes, CEO, Grupo Omnilife; Alejandro García Padilla, Governor, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; Frank Giustra, President and CEO, Fiore Financial Corporation; Rolando González-Bunster, Chairman and CEO, InterEnergy Holdings Ltd.; Nizan Guanaes, Chairman and Founder, Grupo ABC; Gabriela León, CEO, GRESMEX SA de CV; Phillip Levine, Mayor, Miami Beach; Alfredo Mesa, Executive Director, Marlins Foundation; Thomas F. McLarty, Chairman, McLarty Associates; Luis Alberto Moreno, President, Inter-American Development Bank; Stanley Motta, President, Motta Internacional, S.A.; Dyer Narinesingh, President, University of Trinidad and Tobago; Eduardo Padrón, President, Miami Dade College; Nicholas Prouty, President, Putnam Bridge Funding Jennifer Pryce, Founder and CEO, Calvert Foundation; Frank Rainieri, President and CEO, Grupo Puntacana; Julissa Reynoso, U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay; Carlos Rodríguez-Pastor, Chairman and CEO, Intercorp; David Rothkopf, President and CEO, Garten Rothkopf, Israel Ruiz, Executive Vice President and Treasurer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Alejandro Santo Domingo, Managing Director, Quadrant Capital Advisors, Inc.; Juan Manuel Santos, President of the Republic of Colombia; Donna Shalala, President, University of Miami; Carlos Slim, Chairman, Grup Carso; Javier Soto, President and CEO, The Miami Foundation and Gerardo Werthein, Chairman, Caja de Seguros S.A., and many others.
This convening builds on President Clinton’s commitment to inclusive growth across the Americas. While in office, President Clinton:
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Along with fellow democratically-elected leaders in the Americas, convened the first Summit of the Americas in December 1994, in Miami. The summit – the first of its kind in 27 years – brought together the 34 democracies of the hemisphere to articulate their shared vision of the future. The leaders agreed to 23 separate initiatives in support of the four summit themes: strengthening democracy, promoting economic prosperity, eradicating poverty and discrimination, and guaranteeing sustainable development.
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Authorized a $20 U.S. billion loan package in 1994 to restore international confidence in the Mexican economy after the peso hit an all-time low. From 1996-97, the Mexican economy experienced its most rapid growth in 20 years. In 1997, President Clinton announced that the Mexican government had repaid the loan, with interest, ahead of schedule.
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Developed new accords with the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru that forgave between 45-79% of eligible debt and rolled over payments of the rest to more manageable levels. The agreements helped restore international confidence in Latin American economies, which led to new foreign loans from both private banks and international financial institutions such as the World Bank.
Since leaving office, President Clinton has continued to be active in the region though the work of the Clinton Foundation:
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Since 2007, the Clinton Climate Initiative and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group have been empowering cities in Latin America to invest in green technologies and fight climate change— including Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo’s deployment of low-carbon transportation, Bogotá, Colombia’s retrofitting of traffic lights, and Mexico City’s improvement of waste management systems.
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Since 2007, the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership (Enterprise Partnership) empowers individuals across Latin America to work themselves out of poverty. The Enterprise Partnership creates distribution, supply chain and programs training social enterprises, including the Acceso Training Center in Colombia that will place 20,000 people in jobs and the Chakipi Distribution venture that will train 3,000 women for distribution jobs in Peru.
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The Clinton Foundation, since 2010, has raised a total of $34 million for Haiti, including relief funds and also conducts projects focused on supporting Haiti’s small and medium businesses, improving livelihoods, enhancing education and exploring the nexus of agriculture, energy and environment.
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Since 2012, the Clinton Health Matters Initiative has been implementing community health transformation and college campus mental health programs in communities and college campuses serving more than two million Latino Americans.
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In 2013, President Clinton convened Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Latin America meeting, resulting in 40 Commitments to Action: new, specific, and measurable plans to address global challenges. Since CGI launched in 2005, CGI members have made 712 commitments around the world that directly impact the Latin American region. Over 300 students from Latin American countries have attended CGI University meetings since they began in 2007.
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The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the Clinton Foundation, works with schools, companies, community organizations, healthcare professionals and families to build healthier environments where children thrive. The Alliance works with more than 4,800 schools and out-of-school time programs whose primary ethnicity of the student population is Latino. The Alliance also focuses on populations where significant racial and ethnic disparities in obesity prevalence exist, especially in the Latino community.
For more information, a complete list of featured participants, and the most up-to-date schedule visit www.clintonfoundation.org/futureoftheamericas or email press@clintonfoundation.org. Follow us on Twitter at @ClintonFdn and Facebook at Facebook.com/ClintonFoundation for meeting news and highlights.
ALL PRESS MUST BE CREDENTIALED BY THE CLINTON FOUNDATION. Press registration is now open to the members of the media. To apply, please complete the form at https://www.clintonfoundation.org/press/registration/future-americas-meeting. All media must apply for credentials and must be approved by the Clinton Foundation to attend. The deadline to apply is Friday, December 5. Journalists may apply for credentials on-site, but pre-registered media will be given priority.
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