The state of Quintana Roo did not attend, but sent a proxy vote in favor of the discussion points in the order of the day. Absent from the meeting were the states of Tamaulipas, Quintana Roo, Texas, Alabama and Mississippi.

The representatives of the Executive Committee of the States of the Gulf of Mexico Accord met at 9:00 a.m. on May 24, 2000 in Tampa, Florida.

The meeting was opened with a welcome address by Lic. Javier Mollinedo Mollinedo, President of the Executive Committee and Secretary of Economic Development of the State of Tabasco.

Ing. Jose Nadal commented to the attendees that the most important point to deal with during this meeting would be the proposal to change the format of the Accord’s annual meeting from "The Conference of the Governors of the States of the Gulf of Mexico" to "The Annual Meeting of the States of the Gulf of Mexico Accord." This meeting would have one principal theme: "Infrastructure for Business and Tourism."

Lic. Arturo May Mass proposed that, prior to changing the format, each of the Accord’s working groups present to the Executive Committee a summary of work performed during previous annual meetings of the Accord, and that working groups, such as those related to health and to education, not be disbanded. Moreover, he proposed that a fixed calendar of Executive Committee meetings be prepared in order that all Member states could make plans to be in attendance.

Mr. Larry Collins commented that it is necessary to have all the Member states in attendance in order to take these types of decisions.

Lic. Jose A. Aguilar stated his judgment this meeting was the last opportunity to revive the annual meeting, suggesting that a consensus was present that could take decisions related to the tabled proposals before the Executive Committee, and that furthermore, that the Presidency of the Accord could not continue being a two-year term, as had been the case during Tabasco’s tenure.

Mr. Gary Springer commented that, with regard to input from the states that were not present, it would be possible to teleconference in the states of Texas, Mississippi and Alabama in order for their votes to be taken on the issues taken up by the Executive Committee.

Mr. Benjamin McKay proposed to that Florida would direct the project for the creation of a website for the Accord of the States of the Gulf of Mexico.

Ing. Rafael Tatua suggested that this project incorporate all of the work undertaken by the State of Campeche on its earlier Accord website, which, according to Lic. May, had been paid for by state resources.

Mr. McKay reiterated that the project was open to new suggestions, and that he had seen the Campeche website, which he considered very good and of value to the project. He suggested that the website would include the official archive of the Accord, minutes of the Accord meetings, a "chat" area for working groups, meetings calendar, key contact and staff lists, etc.

Mr. McKay reiterated the Florida proposal to serve as the site of the General Secretariat, and additionally proposed to draft its internal by-laws, which, at the appropriate moment, would be submitted for the consideration of the Executive Committee.

Executive Committee President Mollinedo proposed to take advantage of the work already realized by the State of Campeche which would serve as the linkage between the Mexican state members, and that Florida would be responsible for the Gulf Stateas website.

Mr. Benjamin McKay commented that the proximity fo those dates to the Olympic Games in Australia could negatively impact the attendance at the Annual Meeting, and he proposed to move the meeting dates up to August 17-18.

Mr. Larry Collins suggested that the host state of the Annual Meeting design the program and the working agenda for approval by the Executive Committee.

Lic. May proposed that the prsentation of success stories should be undertaken because it would encourage the work groups to spread the word about successful activities under the Accord.

Mr. Benjamin McKay that he was completely in agreement with a project to identify successes of the Accord and to implement a media relations strategy.

Lic. Alberto Aguilar suggested that more concrete accomplishments were needed under the Accord, such as increasing the participation of the private sector, and that participation at the annual meetings should not be limited to government officials. The former would result in an appropriate dynamic for the Accord.

He also suggested that an informational website page to include:

Mr. Benjamin McKay proposed the inclusion of legal issues, such as the training of Notaries Public. For example, whereas in the United States a Notary license can be obtained for $25.00 by anyone, this differs significantly in Mexico where one is able to actually pursue a career as a Notary Public.

He further explained that only three US states have Notaries Public similar to those in Mexico, and that they happen to be precisely located in the Gulf Accord states: Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. He suggested that Accord members should take advantage of this fact and standardize the process in the other states.

Lic. Jose Alberto Aguilar retook the floor to reiterate that topics such as legal issues, logistics and other studies, as well as education and health issues, could be sub-topics under the proposed conference theme -- "Infrastructure for Trade and Tourism."

Lic. Javier Mollinedo proposed to reorganize the working groups to provide more solid foundations for the proposed projects that would result from the reported activities.

Lic. Arturo May commented that the restructuring of the working groups should be analyzed in detail so that certain important work groups, such as health and education, would not be left out. To avoid this situation, he suggested that the working groups should be: Commerce and Tourism, plus Education, Ecology and Health. Furthermore, he cited as the principal problem the fact that the Governor’s Conference had not been held for two years, which would make it more difficult to get the Governors to meet. Moreover, he suggested that none of the working groups be eliminated, and that they should be given more open operating scopes and mandates and increase the participation of the private sectors.

Lic. Alberto Aguilar suggested that a common proposal among the states regarding profitablility be created to improve the relationships between them. To which Mr. Benjamin McKay spoke in favor and suggested that such a proposal be a feature of the website.

Lic. Arturo May suggested a review of the themes, the attendance at these meetings and the achievements of previous meetings and commented that since its inception, the Gulf States Accord was a very ambitious project which looked for each State to participate in each one of the working groups.

Lic. Javier Mollinedo, Executive Committee President, summarized the suggestions as follows:

1. The need to present successful concrete agreements of the working groups.

2. Review any advances of the working tables, and proposed to submit to a vote the following suggested new themes of the Accord:

Lic. Alberto Aguilar suggested another manner of presenting the proposal: Utilizing the general theme of business and tourism, different themes such as health issues could be derived under the same framework. For example, emergency medical services for business travelers would be a concrete action, and also all of the successful agreements between universities.

Ing. Arturo Lopez suggesting hearing from the US member states about the proposals, mechanisms, format and concept of the Annual Meeting.

Mr. Larry Collins commented that more interest on the part of Texas, Alabama and Mississippi would be required, and that he considered that the reason for their lack of participation was the track record of diminishing returns. He signaled that the whole work program would have to be re-thought, results maximized, and continuous communication amongst the Committee members expected. Likewise, he proposed more freedom to embrace other themes that the Executive Committee would handle directly with the members of the working groups.

Mr. Larry Collins commented on the impossibility at this time for Louisiana to accept the Presidency of the Executive Committee, as the state congress had scheduled a vote for November of this year to devolve the Department of Economic Development to a public/private partnership. He explained that this would not halt Louisiana’s international activities. However, in the case that the Department was privatzied to become "Louisiana, Inc.", he would not be able to make a commitment to accept the presidency of the Accord. Since this would imply the responsibility for organizing the next Annual Meeting, he reiterated that he had neither the authority nor the budget to do so. Owing to this circumstance, he proposed three alternatives:

1. Accept the Presidency conditionally without the approval of the Governor of Louisiana;
2. Await the resolution of the budget vote in the Louisiana Congress on November 7, 2000
3. Grant the Presidency to the state of Mississippi.

Ing. Rafael Tatua suggested handing over the Presidency to Louisiana, without the precise obligation to become the host state of the next annual meeting in August 2001.

Lic. Javier Mollinedo suggested awaiting the November legislative decision or allow Louisiana to accept conditionall, which would maintain continuity with previous practice for rotating the presidency of the Accord. Mr. Larry Collins considered that it would not be a major problem to hold the Annual Meeting in his state, but that at this time he could not commit to host the meeting.

Lic. Alberto Aguilar questioned those present about their interest in establishing an office in Florida, to which Mr. Benjamin McKay offered the necessary facilities, human, material and financial resources to install the General Secretariat of the Accord in Florida. He explained that the offer by Secretary of State Katherine Harris would continue, and that this office would serve to provide better communication, greater information and logistical coordination.

Mr. Martin Torres offered his opinion that those present need to take the lead in building interest in the Accord, and he mentioned earlier false starts. As well, he reminded everyone that the Governor of Louisiana had asked that the state not be committed to any matter without previous consultation.

Lic. Arturo May offered his opinion that by agreement with the format for selecting locations for annual meetings, priority should be given to those states that had the proper organization in place.

Lic. Alberto Aguilar suggested that a vote be taken to change the procedure, so as not to subordinate the Accord to any individual state commitment.

Lic. Arturo May considered that the participation on the part of each state is that state’s responsibility, since, even with the previous calendarization of Accord events, there was still absenteeism of some states. Such is the reason that is it impossible to be able to take the Agreements in a joint manner.

Mr. Larry Collins considered that the actual procedure is appropriate, and should be maintained. Moreover, he suggested giving up his "turn" as President in order not to change the traditional format.

Mr. Benjamin McKay considered that among the faculties of the Presidency would be to direct the Secretariat and its activities.

Lic. Javier Mollinedo signaled that the General Secretariat is the operational component of the Accord, and above all a means to maintain systematic communications in support of the continuity of the Accord.

Ing. Arturo Lopez questioned those present if the establishment of the General Secretariat would permanently be in Tampa, Florida, to which Mr. Benjamin McKay commented that since the Executive Committee was not otherwise disposed, the General Secretariat would be in Florida.

Lic. Alberto Aguilar proposed to take a vote on the creation of the General Secretariat, and organize a committee that would prepare the internal by-laws of the Secretariat. Moreover, he suggested that the General Secretariat be designated temporary president of the Accord at the August meeting, to which all present voted in favor.

Lic. Javier Mollinedo asked the Committee to think over the preparation of a calendar for the Accord at the suggestion of the representatives of the State of Campeche.

Lic. Arturo May spoke in favor of designating a fixed month for the Annual Meeting; in this manner all the states could organize their schedules and ensure their participation. He also proposed a meeting prior to the Villahermosa meeting.

Lic. Alberto Aguilar suggested that these meetings ought to occur every four months on the third Thursday of that month, and that the Annual Meeting be fixed for the month of August.

The Executive Committee would meet on the third Thursday of the months of January, April and August, and the Annual Meeting would be held on the third Thursday of the month of August.

The theme of the next Annual Meeting will be:

1. Success stories

2. Presentation by the General Secretariat

3. Other specific themes

Ing. Arturo Lopez suggested that the principal purpose of the Annual Meeting might be to present progress reports of the actual activities in the previous year of each working group.

Lic. Alberto Aguilar considered that the responsibility of the Presidency is to conduct the Committee’s Annual Meeting, and to make it easier for interested parties to take up other topics and themes. Moreover, he offered his opinion that the analysis of the advances of the working groups should be framed under the theme of infrastructure for trade and tourism.

Lic. Arturo May raised his concern about using this evaluation criteria, since this would run the risk of eliminating working groups like education and health, which already had advanced results.

Lic. Javier Mollinedo suggested that the proposal of one theme for the work groups would be taken up beginning with the evaluation of each of the work groups in Villahermosa during the Annual Meeting.

The President of the Executive Committee declared that the Committee had agreed upon:

1. Approval of the change in structure from the "Conference of the Governors of the Gulf of Mexico" to the "Annual Meeting of the States of the Gulf of Mexico Accord."

2. Approval of the creation of a website where the agreements and advance achieved under the new format would be made publicly available in concrete form, which the State of Florida would be in charge in collaboration with the State of Campeche.

3. Determination that the "Annual Meeting of the States of the Gulf of Mexico Accord" would be next held on August 17-18, 2000 in Villahermosa, Tabasco.

4. Agreement on creation of a General Secretariat of the States of the Gulf of Mexico Accord located in Tampa, Florida, with the objective of giving systematic continuity to the agreements reached by the Executive Committee and the work groups. The internal by-laws for the Secretariat would be approved at the next Annual Meeting in Villahermosa, Tabasco.

5. Additional agreement was reached to temporarily locate the Presidency of the Accord within the General Secretariat. This was due to the fact that the State of Louisiana would not be able to accept the presidency at present, since next November the state legislature would vote on a project of law to determine if the Department of Economic Development of Louisiana would continue to be a public sector entity or be privatized. The General Secretariat would temporarily hold the presidency until such time as the Louisiana situation was clarified. Should Louisiana have to decline, the Presidency would be granted to the State of Tamaulipas, following the alphabetical succession criteria utilized previously under the Accord.]

6. Regarding general issues, agreement was reached to work out a regularized calendar for meetings of the Executive Committee, which would facilitate planning by state governments and help to guarantee the attendance of all Member states in the future. The calendar was established as follows:

The meeting was declared adjourned at 6:00 p.m.