An ECLAC contribution to the meetings being held on the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA); Buenos Aires, April 2001 Foreword The Division of Integration and International Trade of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); has prepared this document on the basis of official figures provided by the countries and from documents produced by the Division of Economic Development, the Division of Social Development, and the Statistics and Economic Projections Division. ECLAC, in its capacity as a member of the Tripartite Committee, the other members being the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); and the Organization of American States (OAS);, is providing this information so that it can serve as a quantitative framework for the discussions at the meetings to be held for the purpose of establishing a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA);.