From June 18 through 21 the XVIII Inter-American Conference of Mayors and Local Authorities will be held at the Hilton Miami Downtown Hotel

MIAMI, FL - Sponsored by Miami-Dade County, with the support of the World Bank, and organized by the Institute for Public Management and Community Service at Florida International University (FIU) with the cooperation of the Global Crisis Foundation, the XVIII Inter-American Conference will begin on June 18 at the Hilton Miami Downtown Hotel. The event, which will last through June 21, will bring together 600 public officials from almost every country in the Western Hemisphere.  

They will be welcomed by Miami-Dade County Commissioner, Sen. Javier D. Souto (who initially proposed organizing such a conference in Miami), the Hon. Carlos Gimenez, Mayor of Miami-Dade County and  Mr. Bill Johnson, Director of the Miami-Dade Seaport Department. Keynote presentations will be made by Mr. Rodrigo Chaves, Sector Director, Poverty Reduction & Economic Management for Latin America and the Caribbean, the World Bank; Mr. Kevin Sullivan, Director, Office of Economic Policy and Summit Coordination, Bureau of Western Hemisphere, US Department of State; and  World Bank Vice President for Latin America, Dr. Hasan Tuluy. In addition, prominent public officials including the President of the Argentinean Municipal Association and the Vice President of the Chilean Association and the Mayors of a number of Latin American cities will speak at the conference. 

As regards this event, Senator Souto commented that “This conference, which is now in its 18th year, has become the largest annual event for local government officials from throughout Latin America and has played a major role in the further development of Miami-Dade County as the crossroads of the hemisphere and has helped strengthen democracy throughout the Americas.”  Senator Souto went on to comment, “The conference also provides an important economic boost to the Miami-Dade County economy by bringing to Miami-Dade County individuals who will promote our community as an important destination for business and leisure.” Allan Rosenbaum, the Director of the Institute for Public Management and Community Service at FIU noted that, “As one participant commented a couple of years ago, the conference has become a supermarket of ideas for those on the front line of building effective and democratic local government in the hemisphere.” 

This year, as for the past several years, various communities in Latin America will be recognized for the development and implementation of outstanding programs and governmental reforms. In addition, this year for the first time, there will be a panel focusing on the media as an agent of change which will include prominent journalists from Latin America. The draft program for the conference is attached.

For more information please contact:

Cristina Rodriguez-Acosta 

Ph. 305-348-1271 

Or Allan Rosenbaum

Ph. 305-975-4789

Institute for Public Management and Community Service

Florida International University

ipmcs@fiu.edu