Ciro De Falco, Executive Vice President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is scheduled as the opening plenary speaker for the Pan American Convention of Engineers/Union Pan Americana de Asociaciones de Ingenieria (UPADI) hosted by the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), September 19-22, 2006, in Atlanta, Georgia.
IDB, the oldest and largest regional development bank, is the main source of multilateral financing for economic, social and institutional development projects as well as trade and regional integration programs in Latin America and the Caribbean.

"In order to take full advantage of growing global trade opportunities, Latin American and Caribbean countries must upgrade and expand their infrastructure base in a sustainable manner" said De Falco. "UPADI 2006 brings together a unique forum of business leaders, professional engineers and educators with the skills, knowledge and business savvy to promote sustainable infrastructure development and expansion in the Pan American and Caribbean region."

A United States citizen, De Falco assumed his current position at the IDB in December, 2005. His primary responsibility is to oversee all Bank operations. Prior to his current assignment, he was the Manager of the Regional Operations Department for the Andean and English Speaking Caribbean during the 1994-2005 period, and the Plan and Programs Department from 1988-1994. Before joining the IDB, De Falco was Director of the Office of Developing Nations Finance in the U. S. Treasury Department where he handled financial and economic issues affecting U.S. relations with developing countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa. He joined the U.S. Treasury Department as an economist and was assigned to the Office of Industrialized Nations.

De Falco's remarks kick-off the UPADI conference where subsequent plenary sessions will focus on topics related to the theme of the bilingual conference: "Building a Sustainable Infrastructure: Education, Technology Innovation, and Economic Development." Features of the four-day meeting include a series of technical congresses and presentations, along with the following additional plenary session speakers: Raquel Alfaro, Fund for Fostering Scientific and Technological Research; Carlos Braga, senior advisor, International Trade Department, The World Bank; and Alberto Alemán Zubieta, chief executive officer, Panama Canal Authority.

Founded in 1949, UPADI represents a membership of approximately 2.5 million engineers from 26 member countries in North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The goal of the organization is to advance science and technology to benefit humanity through hemispheric cooperation. The organization seeks to develop action plans, encourage outside funding, and work for the economic development of the nations served. The UPADI conference was last hosted by the United States in 1990 in Washington, D.C.

Registration and conference details for UPADI can be found at http://www.upadi2006.com/english/index.shtml or contact Diana Turner at 404-385-3510 for additional information.