    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [October 17, 1997]
    [Pages 1389-1391]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to Business Leaders in Buenos Aires
    October 17, 1997

        Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, President
    Fedrigotti, President Menem, distinguished members of the Argentine
    Government, to the members of Congress and Cabinet in our administration
    who are here. Let me say on behalf of all of them, we are delighted to
    be here. We have had a wonderful stay in Buenos Aires. And we thank this
    distinguished group of Argentine and American business leaders for
    giving all of us the opportunity to join you this morning.
        When President Bush came here in 1990, it was a very different time
    for Argentina. Inflation was soaring, output was plunging, trade was
    anemic. Today, the country has experienced a truly remarkable
    turnaround. It is a great credit to the people of Argentina, to wise
    decisionmakers, and to the direction that President Menem has set. You
    have cut inflation to almost zero. The expanded trade attracted a flood
    of foreign investment, spurred impressive growth. You are on the move--
    good for Argentina, and good for America, for since 1990, our exports to
    Argentina have more than tripled. In the same period, American
    investment has soared from $2 billion to approximately $12 billion, and
    it's still growing.
        Trade has contributed a quarter of Argentina's growth over the past
    3 years. And of course, behind these individual statistics lie many,
    many success stories that are paying off for people in human as well as
    economic terms.
        To take just one example, General Electric Power Systems has sold
    state-of-the-art gas turbines and generators that will account for more
    than 30 percent of Argentina's new power generation capacity. That
    supports jobs for Argentinean and American workers alike and will
    provide Argentina with higher quality, lower cost, more environmentally
    friendly power to keep engines humming, classrooms lit, and the economy
    growing. It is clearly the kind of win-win situation we see repeated
    over and over again.
        And of course, we see in Argentina a mirror of what is happening
    around the region today as barriers fall and trade expands and people
    everywhere gain greater opportunities for new jobs, new skills, and
    higher incomes. We see it also as a harbinger of what we might build in
    the future in all of this region for all of the people.
        Since 1993, when I took office and established a new economic policy
    that focused on reducing our deficit, investing in our future, and
    expanding trade, expanding trade has accounted for one-third of
    America's strong economic growth. Now I am working to persuade Congress
    to renew the fast-track authority traditionally given to Presidents so
    that we can do even more to speed the falling of barriers and the
    opening of doors.
        Latin America's emerging markets are expected to grow more than
    twice as fast as the economies of the advanced industrial nations. Now,
    it is clearly in the United States interest to be at the forefront of
    that for the next generation. But I want to emphasize to all of you that
    this is, for us, about more than economics. We also want to be genuine
    partners in seizing all the opportunities and meeting all the challenges
    of this new age. It's about far more than just trade figures. It's also
    about political partnerships, the preservation of democracy, the
    strengthening of the social contract to include all people who aspire to
    better lives, the ability to fight drugs and crime and terrorism, the
    ability to build a future that is consistent with the dreams of those
    who founded all our nations.
        Argentina is at the heart of movements bringing our hemisphere
    together, working with your neighbors through MERCOSUR and your
    strategic alliance with Brazil to spur democracy, economic reform, and
    regional security cooperation. MERCOSUR not only expands trade and
    prosperity, it has also reinforced democracy and promoted peace, as
    greater independence and

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    shared hopes for the future make a return to past hostilities
    unthinkable.
        The United States welcomes constructive efforts by others to bring
    our hemisphere together. Every step taken, whether it's MERCOSUR, NAFTA,
    CARICOM, the Andean Pact, helps to build momentum toward what I believe
    should be all our ultimate goal, a free-trade area of the Americas.
        President Menem and I reached agreement that we should launch
    comprehensive negotiations at the Santiago summit in April, moving from
    a common agenda to a common action plan. This, after all, is the course
    we all embraced at the Summit of the Americas in Miami in late 1994. We
    share a vision of a thriving American market of 800 million people from
    Point Barrow, Alaska, to Patagonia, investing in each other's future,
    enriching each other's lives, strengthening each other's institutions
    for freedom and democracy and peace and security.
        But even as we work to open markets, we need to make sure that
    expanding commerce closes, rather than widens, the gaps between the
    haves and have-nots in our hemisphere. We don't want to leave anyone
    behind, and it is not in our interests to do so, for in the 21st
    century, increasingly, the wealth of nations will lie in the minds and
    hearts of people. We can and must ensure that rising trade means a
    rising standard of living for all.
        How are we to do this? Some, even in countries that have done very
    well, like ours, believe that we should become more protectionist. But
    it's not an option. It will only make things worse, for the world
    economy, whether any government likes it or not, is already on a fast
    track. None of us can shut the world out or pretend somehow that we can
    compete in the global economy by closing ourselves off from our
    neighbors. We are riding a great tide of change, and we can turn it into
    a powerful tide of progress for all people, provided the benefits and
    the burdens are shared fairly and the policies are wise and free people
    to fulfill their own destinies.
        That means deepening democracy and the rule of law, including the
    free press and the independent judiciary that serve our citizens
    everywhere. The same rule of law that protects human rights upholds the
    sanctity of contracts and helps to build a stable investment
    environment. We must also insist on worker protections so that trade
    enhances working conditions instead of undermines them. We must promote
    sustainable development and prove that you can, and indeed must, protect
    the environment as we grow the economy. And we must equip all our people
    with the education, the training, and the skills they need to succeed in
    the 21st century world. We must master the new technology that can bring
    all people into the future and bring them all into the same world of
    knowledge, no matter where they live. We can make it so that every book,
    every map, every work of art is at every child's fingertips with the
    click of a computer mouse. But first they must have access to computers,
    and they need to know how to use them.
        Just as the Internet is transforming education, it is also expanding
    the horizons of commerce. Already Argentines can purchase everything
    from books to computer equipment with the simple stroke of a keyboard.
    Trade on the Internet is growing so fast that in just a few years it
    will generate hundreds of billions of dollars in goods and services. It
    is, indeed, already the fastest growing social organism in all of human
    history.
        If we establish an environment in which electronic commerce can
    thrive, free from unnecessary governmental regulations or other burdens,
    then every computer will be a window of opportunity for every business
    in the world. A global network of sales and distribution will be within
    reach of even the smallest or most isolated company. You can start a
    business today and trade around the world tomorrow. That's what the
    Internet will mean. But in order for the digital economy to flourish, it
    must be market led. President Menem and I discussed the importance of
    making sure that this dynamic medium is not weighed down by the heavy
    hand of government.
        We live in a time of extraordinary opportunity. Revolutions in
    technology, information, and communications bring our people and our
    nations closer than ever before, opening new possibilities and also
    giving the organized forces of destruction new opportunities to reap
    ill-gotten gains through crime and drugs and terrorism.
        The promise before us is bright, but it is not inevitable. We must
    seize the opportunities and we must meet the challenges and we must do
    it together. We have to focus on the future, not the past; on embracing
    all, not dividing our people as they have been too often; on building an
    economy that works for everyone who is willing to work in it. We have to
    make our common

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    commitment to peace and freedom, to prosperity and democracy, and we
    have to make it irreversible.
        If we support these policies and this direction, then we can make
    our entire region an image of what we'd all like to be, a place where
    freedom and prosperity go hand in hand, a place where everyone feels
    that he or she has a chance, where every boy or girl believes that they
    can grow up in dignity to live out their dreams, a place where we work
    together to fight those terrible threats of crime and terrorism and
    drugs, a shield against whatever storms the future may bring, an
    alliance to seize whatever new chance the future may hold; a model, in
    short, for the 21st century world.
        That is what I want for the Americas, that is what you are building
    every day here in Argentina, and that is what I hope together we can
    build for our children.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:58 a.m. at the Sheraton Buenos Aires. In
    his remarks, he referred to Carlos Fedrigotti, president, American
    Chamber of Commerce.