Business leaders meet in Miami to discuss HR-related economic issues facing Latin American, Caribbean employers; Mercer Latin America and Caribbean HR Forum convenes October 26-28 in Miami

"Top business leaders will engage in thought-provoking discussionsabout critical HR issues facing companies with operations in theregion," says Marc-Andre Paquette, Latin American/Caribbean regionleader for Mercer. "The Forum's unique format -- part conference, partbusiness forum -- will help participants gain insights about theregion and its economic environment from Mercer's recognized thoughtleaders, who will share their real-life experiences in client casestudies."

Drawing from their experience working with major companies in theregion, Mercer's experts will take participants through successfulprograms companies have put into place to ensure that their "peoplestrategies" support and drive business growth.

Presenters from Mercer's operations in the US and Asia will bringa global perspective to this year's conference. One of the break-outsessions will be devoted to the "China factor."

China's booming economic growth is having an impact onorganizations in Latin America and the Caribbean, be it throughinvestment in China, commercial trade with China, or competition forforeign investment, according to Bruce X. Wang, PhD, a Shanghai-basedMercer consultant who will lead the session.

"China emerged as a fast-growing economy thanks to more than 20years of reform and opening up to the outside world, and is now aleading trading nation," says Dr. Wang. "Its currency's decade-longpeg to the US Dollar has just been abandoned to allow for moreflexible exchange rates in the future. Abundant labor has been one keyfactor of China's success, but how are companies in China -- domesticas well as foreign -- dealing with its human resource managementissues?"

A special pre-conference workshop will explore the ways in whichHR can add value in mergers and acquisitions, currently an area ofintense activity in Latin America.

"Combining workforces is difficult, particularly in cross-borderdeals. It is critical that these complicated 'people issues' beproperly addressed in order to ensure success," says Lawrence Woerner,Mercer's global leader of M&A Consulting and co-leader of theworkshop.

Forum participants will be able to customize their conferenceagendas, choosing from 15 smaller, interactive sessions that focus oncountry-specific and key HR issues for Brazil, Mexico, South America'sSouthern Cone, the Andean Region, and Central America and theCaribbean. These workshops will address local HR, compensation, andbenefit trends as well as political issues and economic indicators,including projected changes for 2006. Advanced sessions will beoffered for Brazil and Mexico, providing deeper examination of themost pressing topics in these countries.

Other sessions will explore key HR issues of interest to companiesacross the region, including executive compensation, total rewards,compensation models, flexible benefits, health care cost management,and retirement issues.

The Mercer Latin America and Caribbean HR Forum is the preeminentforum in the region for exchanging ideas and solutions to the manycomplex challenges organizations face in engaging and motivating theiremployees. It is designed to help human resource and financedirectors, benefit and compensation managers, and other executivesfrom multinational organizations understand how to align their globalworkforce with strategies for ensuring business success.

Complete information, including a conference brochure and onlineregistration, is available at www.mercerHR.com/hrforum. ContactDominique Palumbo at +1 201 284 6284, fax +1 201 284 6181, or emailDominique.Palumbo@mercer.com.

Mercer Human Resource Consulting is the global leader for trustedHR and related financial advice, products, and services, with morethan 14,000 employees serving clients in 149 cities and 41 countriesand territories worldwide. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary ofMarsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., which lists its stock (tickersymbol: MMC) on the New York, Chicago, Pacific, and London stockexchanges. For more information, visit mercerHR.com.

Mercer is the largest consultancy in Latin America and operates inevery major economy. Mercer works with the largest companiesthroughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Visit Mercer on the web: www.mercerHR.com/hrforum