Atlanta has placed its bid to be the host city for the next negotiating round of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) meetings between Chile and the U.S., according to Holly Beth Anderson, vice president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s international department.

          Ms. Anderson told GlobalFax that bidding on this event was one of the most successful parts of the Chile and Argentina trade mission that she attended with the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism (GDITT), July 7-13.

          The FTAA talks, aimed at establishing a free trade agreement between the U.S. and Chile, are to take place Sept. 11-14 in a U.S. city, originally Washington. But Atlanta’s bid may relocate the talks here. Hosting them would be “a great way to put Atlanta on the map” in terms of international trade, Ms. Anderson said. She expects an answer to the bid this week.

          She noted that Canada has had a free trade agreement with Chile since 1995, and U.S. states such as Mississippi, Ohio and Pennsylvania have trade offices in the Southern Cone (Argentina and Chile), but the U.S. and Georgia do not. Trade missions like this one, however, will help, she added.

          Eleven Georgia executives attended the trade mission. They included Colin Brady, vice president & managing director of Cook Associates Inc.; Glenn Cohen, president of Omnimart Corp.; Alan Flowers, regional director of finance for Delta Air Lines’ Latin America division; Robert Haulbrook, executive director of marketing for BellSouth International;

          Lee Jones, president of WhyWrap? Inc.; Frank Marks, president, and Thomas McNally, general manager, of ChemFree Corp.; Diana de Matos, international marketing manager, and Dave Vick, general manager of sales and marketing, for RedMax®-Komatsu Zenoah America Inc.; Bachir Mihoubi, director of international franchising for Cinnabon International and Chandra Stevens, international business development manager for Xcellenet.

          Five public sector delegates attended, including Ms. Anderson; Julie Brown, executive director of the Georgia Foreign Trade Zone; Manuel DeBarros, route development manager for Hartsfield International Airport; Gabriela Gonzalez, director of international sales for the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) and Steve Reick, president of the Clayton County Chamber of Commerce.

          GDITT Commissioner R.K. Sehgal, Deputy Commissioner of International Trade Carlos Martel, Director of Global Marketing for Tourism Bob Harris and Director of Technology & Advanced Communications Al Pendleton led the mission.

          Contact Ms. Anderson at (404) 586-8462. Contact GDITT international trade division at (404) 656-3571.