FW Corporate Hospitality at the WTO (fwd)

[S. Lerner]

>Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 20:36:33 -0400
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>From: Robert Weissman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: Multiple recipients of list CORP-FOCUS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Corporate Hospitality at the WTO
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>Corporate Hospitality at the WTO
>By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
>
>Tired of getting fundraising letters in the mail?
>
>Just imagine how hard it would be to be a corporate CEO. Not only does
>virtually every politician come hat in hand seeking a campaign
>contribution, but you are besieged by a long line of nonprofit
>organizations seeking support for their charitable endeavors. Then your
>fellow bosses hit you up for contributions to support one or another
>political lobbying effort. And now there is a new panhandler that CEOs
>must handle: the mega-intergovernmental conference.
>
>The latest example: The World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting
>in Seattle, to be held in late November and early December.
>
>"I know you are on the receiving end of many requests for support from
>organizations and events, but the hosting of the WTO Ministerial is truly
>a unique opportunity," wrote Lawrence Clarkson, chair of the fundraising
>committee of the "WTO Seattle Host Organization" in a March 15 fundraising
>appeal to corporate executives. Host Organization co-chairs are
>Microsoft's Bill Gates and Phil Condit, CEO of Boeing.
>
>"The Seattle Host Organization is committed to ensuring that the private
>sector is an integral part of the events surrounding the Ministerial. We
>are working very closely with the USTR [Office of the U.S. Trade
>Representative] and WTO officials every step of the way to coordinate
>schedules and venues to maximize interaction between the officials and the
>private sector."
>
>The corporate-sponsored gathering in Seattle is no groundbreaker, as Susan
>Kruller, media and public relations director for the Seattle Host
>Organization, notes.
>
>When NATO gathered for its fiftieth anniversary blowout in Washington,
>D.C. earlier this year, a dozen companies contributed a quarter of a
>million dollars each to have their CEOs serve as directors of the NATO
>Summit's host committee. Others kicked in smaller amounts.
>
>Similar arrangements have been made at a recent G-7 meeting in Denver
>(presidents and top officials of a group of the world's most powerful
>countries meet at the G-7) and a Summit of the Americas in Miami. At a
>1996 National Governors Association conference focused on education
>issues, each governor was paired with a CEO from their state.
>
>Corporate sponsorships of mega-event host committees are now routinely
>structured into event planning by the U.S. government, Kruller says.
>
>In agreeing to host the WTO meeting in the United States, the U.S.
>government obligated itself to pick up the incremental costs between
>holding the meeting in Geneva at the WTO's headquarters and locating the
>gathering away from the WTO's home, Kruller says. The U.S. government
>turns to the private sector to help defray resulting taxpayer expenses.
>
>The private sector is set to kick in $9.2 million to defray the
>ministerial's costs.
>
>When the news first broke of the Seattle Host Organization's request for
>contributions, a controversy ensued over Clarkson's letter's promise that
>high donors would be able to attend a conference at which "the private
>sector will meet senior U.S. trade officials to discuss priorities for the
>upcoming Round." That offer drew a rebuke from the Office of the U.S.
>Trade Representative, and the promised meeting was cancelled.
>
>Corporate contributors are not being denied all goodies, however. Those
>donating at the Emerald Level, a $250,000 contribution, are entitled to
>send five guests to the Host Organization's opening and closing receptions
>and to an exclusive ministerial dinner. They can send four guests to
>private sector conferences the Host Organization is arranging. They are
>provided with briefing updates on the ministerial's progress, assistance
>with room reservations, media assistance and hospitality service. Their
>logos are permitted to appear on the Host Organization's web site and they
>are given signage and display of corporate materials. Companies at the
>Emerald Level are Allied Signal/Honeywell, Deloitte & Touche, Ford, GM,
>Microsoft, Nextel, Boeing, US West, plus the State of Washington.
>
>Lesser benefits are conferred on those making less generous donations. The
>Diamond Level supporters ($150,000 to $249,999) are Activate.com, UPS and
>Weyerhaeuser. Platinum Level supporters ($75,000 to $149,999) are AT&T,
>Bank of America, Columbia Resource Group, Eddie Bauer, Expeditors
>International of WA, Hewlett Packard, Seagram's, Preston Gates & Ellis and
>The Production Network. Gold Level supporters ($25,000 to $74,999) include
>Caterpillar, IBM, Lucent and U.S. Bancorp.
>
>In addition to an extra opportunity to rub shoulders with policymakers and
>high-ranking bureaucrats, what the corporate contributors to the Seattle
>event and similar events really get in exchange for their dollars is a
>sort of hyper-niche image advertising, with a group of hundreds of
>policymakers as their target.
>
>In most instances, at least, the corrupting element is not a quid pro quo,
>but rather something more profound. Corporate sponsorships at the Seattle
>trade ministerial and other meetings are another indicia, another
>reinforcement, another reminder to the government officials of their
>obligations to Big Business. The sponsorships are a corruption of
>atmosphere and place.
>
>Happily, the Seattle meeting will include a counterbalancing factor: tens
>of thousands of activists who plan to take to the streets to protest the
>WTO's record of riding roughshod over consumers, workers, the environment
>and any non-commercial values. Hopefully this mass citizens' mobilization
>will force the trade officials to confront their collective betrayal of
>the public trust.
>
>Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime
>Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based
>Multinational Monitor. They are co-authors of Corporate Predators: The
>Hunt for MegaProfits and the Attack on Democracy (Monroe, Maine: Common
>Courage Press, 1999; http://www.corporatepredators.org)
>
>(c) Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
>
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