Enterprise For The Americas Initiative (EAI)

What Was the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative (EAI)?

The Enterprise for the Americas Initiative (EAI) was a program to boost hemispheric trade unveiled by U.S. President George H. W. Bush on June 27, 1990. The primary objectives of the program were to establish a free-trade zone stretching across North and South America, expand investment and provide debt relief for Latin American and Caribbean countries

Understanding Enterprise For The Americas Initiative

The EAI is made up of three main components:

1. The negotiation of a number of expected free-trade agreements, of which the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was the first.
2. A loan program and a proposed five-year US$1.5 billion multilateral investment fund to be administered by the Inter-American Development Bank.
3. A program of conditional official-debt relief, with interest payments on the reduced debt to be paid in local currency and used to finance environmental projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.