Although Atlanta’s quest to become the headquarters of the Free Trade Area of the Americas Secretariat is on hold, Hemisphere Inc. Executive Director Jose Ignacio Gonzalez said the organization’s branding of Atlanta throughout the hemisphere is beneficial for Georgia firms.

At its inception in 2003, the public-private partnership Hemisphere Inc. was charged with securing Atlanta as the future home of the FTAA Secretariat. Talks for the free trade bloc have stalled, but Hemisphere Inc. is already acting like the trade hub for the hemisphere, Mr. Gonzalez told GlobalAtlanta in a filmed interview on July 12.

“We now have the longer-term objective of being of service to the hemisphere. We are already essentially acting as an FTAA headquarters by providing services to other municipalities and regions to help them become players in our economy,” he said.

He added that the relationships Hemisphere Inc. is making at federal, regional and municipal levels of government in Latin American and Caribbean countries are helpful in drawing investment here and giving Atlanta companies name recognition throughout the hemisphere.

Three years ago, Western Hemisphere consumers did not necessarily know that some of the products they use are made by companies in Atlanta, but now they do because of Hemisphere’s branding efforts, he said.

Delta Air Lines Inc. has especially benefited from Hemisphere Inc.’s relationship-building activities throughout the hemisphere, Mr. Gonzalez noted. By acting in a “symbiotic relationship,” Delta and Hemisphere have opened new markets for the airline in Central and South America, he said.

Delta opened a non-stop flight from Atlanta to Nicaragua’s capital city of Managua in December, two new flights to Puerto Rico in March and a new route to Ecuador in June.

Small- and medium-sized Georgia companies that provide services for larger firms, as well as small companies that export or provide services for importers, also stand to benefit from Hemisphere’s work, Mr. Gonzalez said.

“Small companies should be our most interested party,” he said, noting that large Atlanta companies can afford to pay duties on goods when no free trade agreements are in place, but small companies cannot. Thus, Hemisphere’s work in promoting bilateral free trade between the United States and countries in the region is positive, he said. He added that Hemisphere’s efforts to divert imports to Atlanta from other U.S. ports helps to create jobs here.

“There are private companies in Latin America now because of the relationships we have established,” Mr. Gonzalez said, referring specifically to Georgia-based companies.

Even in countries such as Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru where government leadership is becoming more critical of free market principals, Hemisphere Inc. has established relationships that promote trade between those countries and Georgia, he said.

Visiting foreign dignitaries in their home countries is part of Hemisphere Inc.’s strategy to maintain strong ties with national and municipal governments throughout the hemisphere. Mr. Gonzalez and a Georgia delegation that included Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Craig Lesser recently visited Peru to meet the president-elect, Alan Garcia. They were introduced to Mr. Garcia by the country’s outgoing president, Alejandro Toledo.

“Not many states do international relations like we do,” Mr. Gonzalez said of Hemisphere’s work with the state of Georgia to develop relationships throughout the hemisphere.

“Every country in the hemisphere is touched in some way by our programs, but some have really taken advantage of our efforts,” he said, noting that Hemisphere has developed especially close relationships in Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.

Contact Mr. Gonzalez at (404) 962-4834 or visit www.atlantagateway.org for more information about Hemisphere Inc.’s activities.