ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - (March 3, 2003) The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has announced plans to support trade capacity-building efforts in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua by assisting each country in advancing one or two identified trade-related information technology (IT) priority projects. The announcement was made last week as part of the second round of negotiations on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The five countries selected for this initiative are participants in the CAFTA negotiations and each has identified IT as a priority development sector. To assist the countries in achieving their trade-related IT goals, USTDA announced its intent to provide up to $300,000 to fund missions by technical experts to work closely with the appropriate in-country host agencies to identify, define and develop detailed scopes of work for one or two trade-related IT projects in each country.

The USTDA funds to be expended under this initiative would be the first the agency has reserved in the Latin America region from the special appropriation USTDA received to support trade capacity-building activities around the world. Under P.L. 108-7, the "Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003," USTDA received $2.5 million to support trade capacity-building activities during fiscal year 2003.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, feasibility studies, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment. USTDA's strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development. In carrying out its mission, USTDA gives emphasis to economic sectors that may benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services.

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