Ambassador Frank E. Baxter

At least once a year, business leaders from around the world gather to discuss the trends in economic growth, education, and technology that will shape the future. They usually decide to meet in a friendly country that boasts an intelligent work force and a government which is open to fresh ideas. It came as no surprise to me that the organizers of the 2008 Americas Innovation Forum decided to meet from March 30 to April 2 in Uruguay.

Of course, it takes more than a surplus of friendly and intelligent people or a picturesque setting to convince highly competitive business representatives to take time away from their busy schedules to spend a few days contemplating the future. They chose Uruguay because this country has the potential to become a South American innovation center and the headquarters for companies seeking to take advantage of an emerging Mercosur.

This year’s Innovation Forum will highlight advancements in cutting-edge technology; business practices that reflect long-range thinking and planning; and Uruguay’s growing attractiveness to world business. Visitors will hear how this country is creating nationwide programs that support the ambitions of the small enterprise leaders and innovators of the future.

Though the Forum will focus on the Southern Cone, other Western Hemisphere countries are also taking part. Speakers and participants will explore and highlight new ways to spark innovation and competition, with the goal of creating and sustaining economic growth. I am sure this important forum will be more than merely another conference in which the participants congratulate each other or replicate the work of existing institutions and agreements.

Being the first country to implement a “one laptop per child program” makes Uruguay especially attractive to forward-looking business leaders, particularly to those who might otherwise overlook South America in favor of the emerging technology centers in Eastern Europe and the Indian subcontinent.

Hosting the Innovation Forum further demonstrates that the Uruguayan-American bilateral relationship is headed in a positive direction. The creation of the Joint Commission on Trade and Investment in 2002; the negotiation of a bilateral investment treaty in November 2006; and the signing of a trade and investment framework agreement in January 2007 clearly shows good will and a commitment to ensure that young people in both of countries will have the skills they need to take advantage of the opportunities of the future.

The Innovation Forum is itself a follow-up of the Americas Competitiveness Forum held last year in Atlanta, and a preview of the second Competitiveness Forum, to take place this August in Atlanta.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez summed up the outlook for Uruguay, and our relationship, when he praised this country for making “great progress in opening doors for business, creating advances in technology, and improving education,” adding that “by working together, both bilaterally and regionally (Uruguay and the United States) can ensure that we have robust, dynamic business environments and flexible, skilled talent pools that are equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century and to compete globally.”

I urge Uruguayans and Americans to pay close attention to the Americas Innovation Forum. The ideas and proposals discussed here will directly touch our lives and positively impact the future of our young people.