Clinton Speaks At
Pathways to Prosperity Ministerial Meeting
In Costa Rica
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State,
Thursday 04 March 2010.
I look around this table and I see nations
dedicated to strengthening democracy,
spreading opportunities, and promoting
inclusive prosperity throughout the
Americas.
Since we were together last year in El
Salvador, our region has been tested by a
number of crises, including the political
upheaval in Honduras and the devastating
earthquake in Haiti and Chile. I was in
Santiago two days ago, where I had the
opportunity to meet and consult with both
President Bachelet and President-elect
Pinera. And it is so important that we all,
once again, come to the aid of our
neighbors. Assistance is starting to flow in
from across the hemisphere and it is
reminiscent, tragically, of the great
efforts made to support our friends in
Haiti.
Chile was one of the first to respond to
Haiti’s earthquake. The Chilean rescue and
recovery workers performed heroic efforts.
They worked around the clock to find and
rescue survivors. Now it is time to stand
with both Chile and Haiti as they recover
and rebuild.
These emergencies highlight the strength of
our ties as neighbors, partners, and
friends, and they amplify the importance of
the work we are doing through Pathways. We
are here to help create conditions that
enable people to obtain the economic and
social opportunities critical to national
and regional stability and progress. Whether
our countries are seeking to defuse threats
to democracy, protect against the effects of
natural disasters, or build long-term
prosperity, it is vital that we spread the
benefits of economic growth and integration
to more people in more places.
In our region, prosperity has widened in
recent decades. We’ve worked to promote
growth and create jobs through sound fiscal
policy, bilateral trade agreements,
multilateral pacts like NAFTA and CAFTA-DR,
and institutions like the Inter-American
Development Bank. But for too many people in
too many places, including in my own
country, opportunity is limited and
fleeting.
So through Pathways, we are working to close
the opportunity gap that exists for the
farmers, craft people, and small business
owners who are excluded from financial
services and who lack access to global
markets. We seek to engage women and
historically marginalized populations such
as indigenous peoples and Afro descendents
to give them the chance to contribute to and
share in the broader economic progress. And
as the number of young people across the
hemisphere rises, we are working together to
make sure that the number of schools, access
to higher education, and jobs rise as well.
What I like about Pathways to Prosperity is
that it provides a critical forum where
nations committed to democracy and open
markets can share the best practices for
promoting social and financial inclusion. We
can and must learn from each other. The
Americas, as we heard from the minister from
Costa Rica, are one of the world’s most
dynamic and diverse regions, with a strong
economic base that is evident in the
multitude of creative solutions already at
work in our countries. And I’ve had a chance
to see these solutions in practice.
In El Salvador, a public-private partnership
has provided credit to small and medium size
businesses, sparking entrepreneurship, and
raising family incomes. In Brazil, where I
was yesterday, I met with a group of
businesses that represented partnership
between Brazilian and U.S. Governments, and
over 100 U.S. companies called Mais Unidos,
which promotes corporate social
responsibility, job training, English
language training, especially for at-risk
Brazilian young people, so that they too
have the tools to compete.
And like you, I have followed the progress
that Uruguay and Panama have made towards
spreading the benefits of the digital age
through initiatives that distribute laptops
to children. I was just in Uruguay, meeting
with the out-going president and
now-president Mujica, and their “one laptop
per child” program has given a great boost
to learning and access to the wider world.
Legislation passed in Honduras makes credit
now available to farmers and small
businesses through secured transactions.
Every single one of these programs can be a
model for the rest of us, and that is what I
hope comes from our meeting today.
And I want to recognize our host, Costa
Rica, a global leader in environmental
sustainability. Costa Rica co-hosted a
conference in January with the Organization
of American States on how to encourage
public participation in environmental
decision making. Yesterday, the EARTH
Institute here in Costa Rica led a
discussion on the business challenges and
opportunities facing women in the Americas,
and the Rainforest Alliance, Wal-Mart, and
other organizations discussed their efforts
to bring micro-enterprises into global
supply chains. That is a critical element of
sustainable and inclusive development.
Now, none of these programs or policies will
close the opportunity gap on its own. But
together, they move us toward the goal of
giving all people of the Americas the chance
to fulfill their God-given potential, to
earn a living, receive an education,
participate in the global economy, and if
they choose, to start or expand a business.
I am so impressed by the people in our
hemisphere. I’ve traveled throughout this
hemisphere for 17 years now, and I meet
people with smart ideas, a great work ethic,
and a strong entrepreneurial spirit
everywhere. What I have concluded is that
talent is universal, but opportunity is not.
They just need a chance to show what they
can do, to compete in a business environment
that is fair and secure. And together, we
can help provide for that.
To that end, the United States will be
focusing on several Pathway initiatives to
support entrepreneurs across the hemisphere.
First, we’ve had success in our country with
the creation of small business development
centers where people can go to get
information and advice about starting a
business. Some Pathway countries have
adopted this model, and we’re looking to
share it with others by organizing exchange
visits between countries.
Second, we are supporting women
entrepreneurs across the hemisphere. We know
that women still today are often overlooked
or excluded, especially when they go for
credit. I’ve had women say to me, “A lot of
dreams die in the parking lots of banks.”
So even though these women are innovative,
energetic, hardworking, and committed, we’re
not doing enough to support their businesses
and efforts. Last October, the United States
hosted a conference for women entrepreneurs
from the Americas. And we’ve launched a
mentoring network to connect experienced
women business leaders with women who are
just starting out. In the coming months,
we’ll work with you to deepen and expand
that network.
Third, we want to help our partners in
Pathways modernize customs procedures,
something that was also mentioned by the
Costa Ricans. Efficient and effective
customs practices are critical to attracting
foreign investment and succeeding in global
markets. Now, several countries in Pathways
are also members of APEC. The members of
APEC have agreed to reduce our trade
logistics delays and costs by 5 percent. And
I challenge the other members of Pathways to
work with us to do the same. The United
States will sponsor workshops for public and
private sector officials to share best
practices for improving customs procedures.
At APEC, we looked at research which showed
that these small changes in customs
procedures that have a direct and
significant impact on improving business
opportunities in every country.
Fourth, trade requires effective
communication. This year, we have offered
100 teachers from Pathways countries
training in English language instruction,
and over 400,000 students across the region
are learning English at the 140 bi-national
centers we support. This is work we are
committed to continuing, and I’d like to ask
our partners in Pathways to make this a
mutual exchange. Millions of U.S. citizens
speak Spanish as a first or second language,
or are learning how to speak it. With your
help, we can have even more U.S. citizens
learning Spanish, and that will increase our
trade and business ties.
Fifth, we are working to help small and
medium-sized enterprises decrease the amount
of water, energy, and raw materials they
need to protect natural resources, shrink
carbon emissions, and save costs.
Sixth and finally, the United States is
committed to working with our Pathways
partners to modernize laws that govern
lending so that small and medium size
businesses can use assets other than real
estate as collateral for loans. I visited
the display that Honduras has, and they
showed me the kind of equipment that can now
serve as collateral in Honduras because
Honduras has changed their laws: sewing
machines, tool boxes, farm equipment.
Small businesses are the backbone of our
economy and the source of employment for
many of our citizens. We must give them the
chance to borrow larger amounts at lower
interest rates with longer repayment periods
if we’re going to make it easier for these
enterprises to thrive. And I commend
Honduras for the model programs that they
are implementing.
Let me say a word about the importance of
job creation in Haiti. One of the great
stories about this horrible tragedy in Haiti
is that before the earthquake, working with
the Government of Haiti, many of the
countries around the table were committed to
long-term development projects. Shortly
before the earthquake, my husband, who works
with the secretary general of the United
Nations, brought over 500 business leaders
from across our hemisphere to Haiti to sign
contracts, to open factories, expand
businesses, to develop tourism.
Last spring, I visited a garment factory in
Haiti that was a powerful engine for local
economic growth. At that time, apparel
exports made up approximately 90 percent of
all exports from Haiti and supported 28,000
jobs. We expected that to grow many times
over. Since the earthquake, many of Haiti’s
factories are coming back online. Many
others, however, are still closed, and their
workers out of work. Getting Haiti’s
industry moving again will help the
immediate recovery effort and stimulate
future growth.
The United States has a trade preference
program called Haiti HOPE, H-O-P-E, which
extends our most favorable tariffs and terms
on Haitian exports of textiles and apparel.
Our Congress is considering bills that may
help Haitian producers even more. Other
countries have also taken such steps.
Canada, for example, has an excellent
program that allows Haitian products to
enter tariff-free.
I am sure that many of you heard about the
moving conversation yesterday between women
entrepreneurs in Haiti and elsewhere in the
region. This one conversation reflects the
deep sense of solidarity that people across
the hemisphere feel for the people of Haiti.
I encourage members of Pathways to channel
that solidarity into new economic
opportunities for the Haitian people,
particularly with new market opportunities
in your countries. And together, we can help
Haiti recover better and build back even
stronger.
Now, we won’t reach the goals, the very
ambitious goals that we have set, but we
will make progress through persistent
experimentation and collaboration. We must
identify those programs and policies that
are really working and move away from those
that are not. And I hope all of us will
establish concrete plans of action with
accountability measures that really look
hard at how well we are doing and demand
results from these programs. And we should
increase our collaboration through other
partnerships as well – the Inter-American
Social Protection Network launched last year
in the United Nations General Assembly. And
the United States is looking forward to
working with all of you on innovative ways
to reduce social inequalities and improve
the work of public institutions.
I was reminded again that wherever we live
in the Americas, whatever our heritage,
whatever language we speak, we all want the
same thing: the chance to live safe and
healthy lives; to see our families
productive and moving toward a better
future; to participate fully in our
communities; and to do all that we can to
extend those opportunities to others. I
think we are building on a strong
foundation, and I am very pleased to
participate once again in this ministerial.
And I look forward to working with all of
you in the days, months, and years ahead.
Thank you very much.
Source: US Department Of State |
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