Allen F. Johnson & Associates Announces New Staff and Office In Central America

GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA, July 19, 2006 -- Ambassador Allen Johnson, President of Allen F. Johnson ( AFJ) & Associates, announced the appointment of José Carlos (“Charlie”) Sarmiento as AFJ’s Regional Manager and the opening of a new office in Central America.  He also announced that Ms. Gabriela Palacios de Quinõnez has joined the AFJ team in Central America.

As regional manager, Mr. Sarmiento will direct activities in the new Guatemala City office.  He will also be working with Ambassador Johnson and the rest of the AFJ team to service clients and customers in the region and identify business opportunities for AFJ and its business partners.  Mr. Sarmiento brings a strong background in banking, finance, and business, as well as in-depth knowledge of the Latin American region, to AFJ & Associates.  His professional and educational experiences will allow him to create, strengthen, and maintain long-term government and private-sector relationships throughout the region.  In addition, his communication and negotiation skills and business knowledge allows him to successfully respond quickly to clients’ needs.

Ms. Quinõnez has extensive experience in the public and private sector and brings a strong background in project management, tourism development, market outreach, and research to AFJ.  She has worked for Tourism Development International, Conservation International, and the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington DC.

The office is strategically located in Guatemala City, giving AFJ & Associates an important footprint in Central America.  This will allow AFJ to provide better service to its clients in the region and in other parts of the world who want to explore business opportunities in the region.    The office is located in the Penthouse Edificio Murano Center in Zone 10 and the staff can be reached at (502) 2386-1011.

“I am pleased that José Carlos has joined the AFJ Team as our Regional Manager.  He brings a strong business background to the company that will complement the rest of our team.  His knowledge of the Latin American market and his government and private-sector relationships throughout the region give us the ability to respond to clients’ needs in a timely and effective manner,” Johnson stated. “Gabriela is also a very positive addition to the AFJ team.  Her background in tourism and development issues is a real plus for meeting these important needs in the region.”

“Opening an office in Central America enhances our ability to service clients and help them take advantage of the CAFTA-DR and other U.S. FTAs in the region.  The benefits these FTAs offer to countries are tremendous and we are well positioned to help companies take advantage of them,” Johnson added.

AFJ & Associates, LLC, was founded in October 2005 in the Washington, D.C. area.  The President is Ambassador Allen Johnson, the Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) from 2001-2005 and the lead agricultural trade negotiator for the CAFTA-DR and other FTAs in Latin America and around the world, as well as the WTO.  Ambassador Johnson has over 25 years of experience in leadership roles in political and policy areas on the local, state, national and international level, as well as an extensive background in business, management, marketing, and product development.  Other members of the AFJ team include Sharon Sydow, Vice President, and Richard White, Senior Director for Regulatory Affairs.  Previous to joining AFJ, Ms. Sydow and Mr. White worked with Ambassador Johnson in the agricultural affairs office at USTR where they had responsibility for WTO, FTA, farm policy, and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues.

The roughly 100 years of collective experience the AFJ team offers allows it to effectively service clients in the areas of agriculture, industry, security services, new technologies and biotechnology, real estate, and financial services/auditing.  AFJ offers a broad range of services to clients in Central America and other regions, including:

• Building and developing business relationships for clients by providing market development, representation, negotiation, and project consulting and management services
• Government relations activities in the countries or regions where AFJ’s clients work and in the United States, including assisting clients in meeting SPS requirements and obligations
  
• Business, policy, and regulatory consulting and, as needed, building ad hoc consulting teams for the specific needs of clients
  
• Serving on company advisory committees and boards, and providing speeches and presentations to meetings and seminars on trade policies, negotiations and programs
  
• Associates of the company are also directly involved in trading agricultural and nonagricultural, products and services between Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States, as well as helping clients to introduce, market and distribute their products.