A hookup for agribusiness.

• Author: Luxner, Larry
• Position: Agro Americas

In the field of international trade, modern communications systems and transmission technology are indispensable tools, paving the way for economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Now, a new joint venture, Agro Americas, seeks to utilize the new information highway to meet the needs of agribusinesses in the Western Hemisphere.

Agro Americas was established in response to the recent hemispheric movement toward integration and trade expansion. The venture was launched last December with support from Sprint International, Caribbean/Latin American Action (C/LAA), the leading private nonprofit business organization promoting trade and investment in the Western Hemisphere, and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), a specialized agency of the Organization of American States (OAS).

According to Carlos Aquino Gonzalez, director general of IICA, C/LAA and IICA "have the potential to provide the agribusiness community of the Americas with a powerful informational edge."

Through Agro Americas, its founders hope to achieve four basic objectives: mobilize and unify small, medium, and large agricultural companies through an electronic network; reduce the costs of agribusiness trade and investment by promoting the use of computers; achieve changes in the public sector through constructive dialogue and cooperative action with the private sector; and provide the single best source of information and assistance to anyone pursuing agribusiness trade and investment in the Americas.

Roger Sattler, spokesperson for Agro Americas, says that the organization seeks to "accelerate trade and investment in the Americas by harnessing the power of telecommunications and information technology." In simple terms, that means linking the region's farmers, exporters, importers, and government officials via computer in order to boost sales and productivity while cutting the actual cost of doing business.

According to Sattler, a presentation about Agro Americas at the Miami Conference on the Caribbean and Latin America this past December attracted 400 agribusiness executives. About 175 - from Barbados, Costa Rica, Brazil, and half a dozen other countries - immediately signed up as charter members. "The agriculture industry tends to lag behind when it comes to information technology, especially compared to professional services like insurance, banking, and medicine," says Sattler, who also heads international business development for...