Americas Competitiveness Forum 2010
“Building a Prosperous and Sustainable Future for the Americas”

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Mayor Kasim Reed are hosting the fourth annual Americas Competitiveness Forum (ACF) on November 14-16, 2010, in Atlanta, Georgia. The ACF is the preeminent economic and commercial event in the Americas, attracting approximately 1,000 participants from the Western Hemisphere’s public and private sector, including Heads of State, Ministers of Economy, Commerce, Trade and Industry, and leaders from academia, civil society and business.

The ACF is a unique blend of policy dialogue on competitiveness, combined with business-to-business promotion and business-to-government interaction. The idea for the ACF was born following the 2005 Summit of the Americas where several countries expressed interest in convening a high-level, sustained regional dialogue on competitiveness issues.

The City of Atlanta and the U.S. Department of Commerce signed an agreement to implement the ACF and in 2007 the inaugural Forum was held in Atlanta. ACF 2007 and 2008 were hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the City of Atlanta, with logistical support from CIFAL Atlanta. The 2009 ACF was hosted by Chile’s Ministry of Economy, and was the first ACF hosted outside the United States.

ACF 2010 Themes:

1. Innovation and green technologies

2. Education and workforce development

3. Entrepreneurship and small business development

4. Trade facilitation, border clearance and supply chain logistics