News Releases

Trilateral North American Works Conference merged with National Forum on Trade Policy for 2009

Thursday, October 22, 2009

KU Center for International Education & Research (CIBER) with CIBERs from Indiana University and Ohio State University, as well as Kansas City, Missouri will host Kansas City's 5th North America Works Conference combined for the first time with the National Forum on Trade Policy to offer a dynamic 2009 trilateral conference experience. From Nov. 4-6, business leaders, policy makers and members of the academic and research communities from Canada, the United States and Mexico will come together to explore a perplexing question, "Does North America Work?"

Keynote speaker for "North America Night" on Thursday, Nov. 5, is David E. Sanger who covers the White House for The New York Times and is one of the newspaper's senior writers. In a 24-year career at the Times, he has reported from New York, Tokyo and Washington, covering issues surrounding foreign policy, globalization, nuclear proliferation, Asian affairs and, for the past five years, the arc of the Bush presidency. Twice he has been a member of Times reporting teams that won the Pulitzer Prize.

Focusing on the theme of "Enhancing North America's Competitiveness in a Changing World," the 2009 conference takes an in-depth look at issues that have created uncertainty and controversy. Specialists across North America will discuss how we can reduce trade barriers, meet security concerns, cooperate in developing sustainable business practices, and build a freight transportation system that will enhance North American competitiveness in the global market.

For this milestone year the CIBERs at Kansas, Indiana, and Ohio State are partnering with Kansas City, MO. to bring a network of organizers, sponsors and participants from 31 top U.S. business school programs to the conference. Some registrants will attend via satellite conference sites in the US, Mexico and Canada and are linked through streaming video and ongoing social networking.

Over the past four years, Kansas City's "North America Works" has become the premier meeting point for discussion and exchange on critical North American developments. The annual conference has combined regional, continental and global perspectives in discussing issues critical to the Canadian, Mexican and U.S. business, civil, educational, research and government communities.

The conference Web site: www.marc.org/naw has registration, hotel and other pertinent information on the conference. Major conference partners and organizers are Mid-America Regional Council, CIBERs from KU, Indiana and Ohio, and the city of Kansas City, Mo., in cooperation with presenting sponsors — KCMO Port Authority and the Neighborhood Tourism Development Fund.

The KU CIBER at the KU School of Business is one of 31 CIBERs designated by the U.S. Department of Education as national resources in international business.

CONTACTS:
Suzanne Scales, KU CIBER
Jody Edgerton, NAW Conference Co-Chair , jedgerton@marc.org; 816/701-8251
Jody Ladd Craig, Public Affairs Director, jcraig@marc.org, 816/701-8241


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