Friday, June 2

8:00 – 8:30 Registration (Teatro Las Fiestas)
8:30 – 9:30 Opening Plenary (Teatro Las Fiestas)
Welcome: Elena Viyella de Paliza, President, CONEP, Dominican Republic
Introduction: Ernesto Gutiérrez, President, Private Sector of the Americas
Opening Remarks: H.E. Rafael Alburquerque, Vicepresident of the Dominican Republic
José Miguel Insulza, Secretary General, Organization of American States
Kevin Manning, President, AMCHAM- Dominican Republic

9:30 – 10:00 Coffee Break

10:00- 11:30 Discussion Panel: The Crosscutting Issues
Introduction: Andrés Van-der-Horst, Director, National Competitiveness Council, Dominican Republic
Remarks: Competitiveness in the Knowledge Society: A Global Perspective
René Villarreal, President, Center for Intellectual Capital & Competitiveness
Public-Private partnerships
Nicolás Ardito Barletta, Former President of Panama and Director General of the Panamanian National Competitiveness Center
Education
Rodrigo Arboleda, Visiting Scholar, MIT Media Lab and Managing Director, The Globis Group LLC, Miami
Knowledge society
Ben Petrazzini, Director, Institute for Connectivity of the Americas (ICA)

12:00 – 5:00 Simultaneous Working Sessions (Salon Anacaona)
Buffet lunch will be available from 1:00 –2:00 pm

Session 1 (Room A):

Business Climate: The Role of Transparency and Rule of Law for Investment

Chair: Christopher Sabatini, Senior Director of Policy, Council of the Americas, United States

Discussants:
J. Barrie Farrington, Senior Vice President, Kerzner International (Atlantis), Bahamas

Federico Cuneo, President, Foro Empresa

Claudia Umaña, Director of the Legal Department, Fundación Salvadoreña para el Desarrollo Económico y Social (FUSADES)

Susan Cote-Freeman, Program Manager, Transparency International
Session 2 (Room B):

Education and Skills Training: Fundamental
Pillar for Human Development & Competitiveness

Chair: Nigel John, President, Chamber of Industry
and Commerce, Grenada

Discussants:
Mauricio Dasso, Chief, Department of Training in Businesses, Servicio Nacional de Capacitación y
Empleo (SENCE), Chile

Guillermo Abaracon, Director, Competitiveness
Capacity Building Initiative, OAS

Carlos Arguello, President, Studio C, Antigua, Guatemala

Rafael Pérez Colón, Multilateral Institutions Relations Manager, Microsof Latin America and Caribbean

Marcelo López Arjona, General Secretary, Asociación de Empresas de Telecomunicaciones de la Comunidad Andina (ASETA)
Session 3 (Room C):

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructure: Challenges and Opportunities

Chair: Dr. Jorge Cassino, President, Latin
American Association of Information Technology Enterprises (ALETI)

Discussants:
Clovis Baptista, Executive Secretary, Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (CITEL)

Edgardo Torres Caballero, Hewlett Packard

Luis di Benedetto, President, Hispanic-American Association of Research Centers and Telecommunication Enterprises (AHCIET)

Danilo Piaggesi, Chief, Information Technology for Development Division, Education, Science and Technology Sub-Department, Sustainable Development Department, IDB

7:30 Welcome Reception – Pool area, Hotel Jaragua

Organization of American States Private Sector Forum

Saturday, June 3

8:00 – 8:45 Registration (Cascadas Area)

9:00 – 9:45 Plenary: Setting the Stage for a Workable Partnership
Introduction: Elena Viyella de Paliza, President, CONEP, Dominican Republic
Address: Gustavo Cisneros, Chairman, Cisneros Group

10:00 – 10:15 Coffee Break

10:15– 11:15 Morning Plenary: Latin American and the Caribbean in the Knowledge Society
Introduction: Walter Bastian, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere, U.S. Department of Commerce
Keynote Address: Vinton Cerf, Co-inventor of the Internet and Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist of Google

Questions and answers

11:15 – 12:15 Discussion Panel: The Role of Regional Organizations
Moderator: Alfonso Quiñonez, Executive Secretary for Integral Development, OAS
Discussants: José Luis Machinea, Executive Secretary, ECLAC
Enrique Garcia, President, CAF
Jaime Rivera, President, BLADEX

12:30 – 14:30 Luncheon (Teatro La Fiesta)
Introduction: Eduardo Martinez, Secretary Executive Director of the Export and Investment Center and President of the Cyber Park, Santo Domingo
Keynote Address: Nicholas Negroponte, Chairman, Foundation “One Laptop Per Child”

14:30 – 15:30 Closing Plenary: Private Sector Working Groups’ Recommendations
Moderator: Sherry Stephenson, Acting Director, Department of Trade, Tourism and Competitiveness, OAS
Chairs: Business Climate:
Christopher Sabatini, Senior Director of Policy, Council of the Americas, United States
Education & Skills Training:
Nigel John, President, Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Grenada
Information and Communications Technology (ICT):
Jorge Cassino, President, ALETI

15:30 – 17:00 Conclusion
Closing Remarks: Ernesto Gutiérrez, President, Private Sector of the Americas

Introduction: Enrique de Obarrio, Vice President, Private Sector of the Americas and President Board of Trustees, Panamanian National Competitiveness Center

Keynote Speaker: Hon. Martín Torrijos, President, Republic of Panama
“Public-Private Partnerships in Megaprojects of Infrastructure: The Panama Canal Expansion”

19:30 – 22:00 Dinner (Organized by Private Sector of the Americas - By Invitation Only)

Welcome: Ernesto Gutiérrez, President, Private Sector of the Americas
Introduction: Elena Viyella de Paliza, President, CONEP, Dominican Republic
Remarks: Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General, Organization of American States

Keynote Address: Leonel Fernández, President, Dominican Republic
“Public-Private Partnership for Competitiveness and Job Creation in the Knowledge Society”

Sunday, June 4th
11:00 - 18:00 Golf at the Country Club of Santo Domingo