END OF YEAR REPORT

With the close of the first full fiscal year of the International Center for Law, Trade and Diplomacy, Inc., this past June 29, 1998, it is a good time to assess where we have come from, where we are heading, and what needs to be done for the future.

For those friends of the ICLTD who have been with us from the beginning, it is important to recall that a little more than one year ago, in March, 1997, the ICLTD, an organization dedicated to a grass roots effort to innovate in the area of world affairs education, was merely an idea on paper. Although the pace has been slower than what was originally expected, development has been steady and deliberate in tune with the goal of the organization to evolve into a significant source of information for the public on issues concerning American foreign policy, international law, international trade and the diplomatic process.

In July, 1997, the ICLTD secured directors and officers liability insurance to pave the way to developing an active Board of Directors. The ICLTD then embarked on the complicated task of obtaining its status as a not-for-profit, tax exempt organization, a status that was obtained in late October, 1997. Subsequent filings with the state authorities have exempted the ICLTD from sales taxes and franchise taxes facilitating its operation on a very tight budget.

The Board of Directors that was assembled, Tomas Ryan de Heredia, Ian Anderson, Taufiq Choudhury, Carol Goodman, and Robert Goodman, was able to work through the issues relating to tax exemption with efficiency, established basic financial controls, and began the important task of developing long-range programs and ideas for information sources that could facilitate a higher degree of understanding among members of the public concerning a wide range of world affairs issues.

On the project development front, the Advisory Council has been particularly active. I call particular attention to the work of Alex Angelchick who has been working with me to develop the ICLTD’s Global Reach Information System for International Risk Assessment (The GRISIRA Project), and Louise Valiquette who is currently working on a series of programs concerning American-Canadian trade issues. The Africa Outreach Program which will be discussed in greater detail below has been chiefly developed by director Ian Anderson and Francis Arricale, a friend of the ICLTD, whose advice on several strategic issues has been critical to moving that project along.

A great deal of work was also done on developing materials for the organization, including descriptive project materials, a mission statement, information on the directors and advisors and visual materials that have been commended by readers. The ability of the ICLTD to interact with the public has been further enhanced through the establishment of a web site at www.icltd.org, which is expected to serve as an important vehicle for marketing the organization’s various services and projects. The web site was created and is presently administered by another friend of the ICLTD, Joseph Hayden whose efforts on behalf of the organization are very much appreciated.

Finally, in connection with our effort to develop the ICLTD’s web site, we have upgraded the organization’s computer hardware and software so as to enable the ICLTD to operate at greater efficiency. With respect to this upgrade, the ICLTD thanks Dr. Arthur and Harriet Goodman for their contribution of $2,000 this past October, 1997.  It should be noted that as part of the upgrade, the ICLTD changed its Internet Service Provider, and also obtained a new email address to which all future electronic mail should be directed-- icltd@icltd.org.