Pacific Rim - The Americas, New Zealand and Asia
Development or Exploitation - Tuesday 8th March at 5.30pm

A forum to explore the relationships between fair development, sustainability and international trade agreements. Keynote speakers, a round table discussion and some theatre. St John's Church on the corner of Willis and Dixon Streets Tuesday 8th March 5.30pm for a light meal, start at 6.00pm
Suggested koha $8/$5

Keynote speakers:
Elinor Chisholm: Fair Trade as Sustainable Development in an Egalitarian Society

Terence Wood: Participatory Democracy within the Context of Free Trade Agreements

Prue Hyman: Critique of Proposed Chile/New Zealand Closer Economic Partnership

Gary Williams and Elinor Chisholm: World Social Forum 2005 Porto Alegre

Hosted by: Latin America Solidarity Committee with the co-operation of
Los Andes folkgroup, Peace Action Aotearoa and the Green Party
Contact: Paul Bruce Email: lac@apc.org.nz ph: 04 972 8699

Elinor Chisholm
Elinor has lived in Ecuador over the last year co-ordinating a project in Bahia de Caraquez, on the coast of Ecuador, which involved teaching environmental themes in 13 schools (www.riomuchacho.com/html/ecoschools.htm) also in Quito with the fair trade organisation Camari (www.camari.org). Elinor also participated in a conference on the proposed Andean Free Trade Agreement, and attended the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in January.

Terence Wood
In 2003/04 Terence wrote his Master (of Development Studies) Dissertation on the Participatory Budgeting Programmes of Porto Alegre and Belo Horizonte (in Brazil). Terence will talk about the history of political participation in Brazil and some of the innovative experiments in participatory democracy that have been going on in Porto Alegre and the rest of the country. He will also outline how integration into a neo-liberal global economy has placed limits on any real hope for reform.

Prue Hyman
Prue is a Research Associate in Gender and Women's Studies (formerly Associate Professor of Economics and Women's Studies) at VUW. She is the New Zealand co-ordinator of the International Association for Feminist Economics and a member of ARENA, (action, research & education network of Aotearoa). Prue will talk about the proposed Closer Economic Partnership between New Zealand and Chile that is being negotiated at present. Prue will present the results of research by ARENA that shows that neither the New Zealand nor Chilean government has examined the real social and economic implications of the deal for their people. And she will explain why the most likely beneficiaries of this trade agreement will be transnational companies.

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