Partnership for Central America Testifies Before the United States Senate Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
Washington, D.C. Tuesday, May 16, 2023 — Jonathan Fantini-Porter, Executive Director and CEO of the Partnership for Central America (PCA), testified before the United States Senate Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness to discuss the foundational pillars to achieve greater economic cooperation in the Western Hemisphere, and how PCA—through its public-private partnership model—plays a significant role in these efforts. Fantini-Porter was joined by witnesses Eric Farnsworth, Vice President of the Council of the Americas; Margaret Myers, Director for Asia and Latin America Program, Inter-American Dialogue, Woodrow Wilson Center; Cathy Feingold, Director of the International Department, AF-CIO; and Neil Herrington, Senior Vice President, AMericas Program, United States Chamber of Commerce.
Chair Thomas R. Carper and Chair John Cornyn facilitated the discussion with questions from Subcommittee members concerning existing challenges related to trade and investment across the Western Hemisphere, and opportunities to strengthen economic ties with the aim of promoting growth and security throughout the region. Primary topics of discussion included the root causes of economic instability in the region; the importance of rules of law; the effectiveness and durability of existing free trade agreements and bilateral agreements in the region; and the pathways available to the United States Government to advance current initiatives in the region, such as Vice President Harris’s Call to Action. The hearing also explored China’s influence in the region—specifically through its scope of investments and economic integration efforts—and identified strategies in which the U.S. can counter these incursions through the deepening of multilateral cooperation and strategic collaboration with our allies in the Western Hemisphere.
In his remarks, Fanitni-Porter highlighted the importance of a more unified Americas that serves as a pillar of the United State’s long-term economic competitiveness and national security, as well as the approaches driven forward by PCA in support of economic cooperation: “Improved regional cooperation across the Western Hemisphere is essential to achieving a more stable, prosperous, and sustainable future for the United States and the region. Such cooperation can help to create new economic opportunities, counter investments by strategic competitors, stem illegal migration to the United States, and fight climate change.”
To read Fantini-Porter’s full statement and to view the entire hearing please visit the United States Senate Committee on Finance website.
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The Partnership for Central America is a non-partisan, non-governmental organization that works with a multi-national coalition of private organizations to advance economic opportunity across underserved populations in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The Partnership serves as a coordinating body of Vice President Harris’s Call to Action and aims to facilitate and support practical solutions to advance economic opportunity, address urgent climate, education and health challenges, and promote long-term investments and workforce capability in support of a vision of hope for Central America. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to membership@centampartnership.org.
