US Competitiveness Council Meets Salvadoran Development Council

Deputy Secretary of Commerce Walter Bastian addresses the Salvadoran representatives.

Members of the Salvadoran Growth Council and a group of representatives from the US Competitiveness Council met on January 10 at the Presidential Palace in San Salvador. The group of US visitors was headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce Walter Bastian.  William Bates and Jack McDougle, members of the Competitiveness Council, were also part of the delegation.
During their meeting, the delegation assured their Salvadoran counterparts of the US commitment to to the Partnership for Growth Initiative, signed last November 4.

Salvadoran Technical Secretary Alexander Segovia, Minister of Treasury Carlos Caceres, Minister of Agriculture Guillermo Lopez Suarez, Minister of Economy Hector Dada and the President of the Salvadoran Central Bank, Carlos Acevedo, were present at the meeting.  The Salvadoran Growth Council also has representatives from the private sector.  Francisco de Sola, Ricardo Poma, Juan Carlos Eserski, Roberto Murray and Francisco Calleja were also part of the meeting.

The nature of the National Growth Council  is to overcome the constraints to economic development, insecurity and low productivity in the tradable sector, there were identified in the diagnosis conducted prior to signing the Partnership for Growth Statement of Principles between the governments of El Salvador and the United States. The Competitiveness Council of the United States brings together major industry leaders to confront the challenges of competitiveness in the United States.   It also seeks to generate innovative public policy solutions that allow for the measurement of of performance in the global marketplace, as well as the identification of key obstacles and opportunities for doing business.