    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [January 13, 1999]
    [Pages 40-41]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Letter to Congressional Leaders Transmitting a Report on the
    Comprehensive Trade and Development Policy for Africa
    January 13, 1999

    Dear __________:
        I am pleased to submit the fourth of five annual reports on the
    Administration's Comprehensive Trade and Development Policy for Africa,
    as required by section 134 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. This
    year has seen progress in our trade policy and the deepening of trade
    relationships with Africa.
        I was proud to be first President to undertake a comprehensive visit
    to Africa this past year. In March, I visited Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda,
    South Africa, Botswana, and Senegal. At each stop, I was struck by the
    remarkable opportunities for the United States to expand our growing
    relationship with Africa based on mutually beneficial trade and
    development. In the months since my return, my Administration has worked
    to expand and exploit those opportunities through practical measures,
    including undertaking trade missions, negotiating trade agreements, and
    implementing debt relief and technical assistance programs for Africa's
    strongest reformers.
        These efforts continue to build on the strategy I announced in the
    June 1997 Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity in Africa
    (Partnership). Our goal continues to be sustained economic development
    for Africa, and we are guided by the conviction that economic
    development in Sub-Saharan Africa will benefit both Africans and
    Americans. We continue to believe, as outlined in the Partnership, that
    trade should not replace aid. Effective aid assists countries in
    building healthy, literate, and informed populations able to take
    advantage of the opportunities offered by increased trade and
    investment. Well-focused assistance, combined with strong reforms and
    increased trade and investment, will break Africa's old patterns of
    dependency.
        The report I am sending to the Congress today reviews our
    achievements of the past year in implementing the goals of the
    Partnership. First, we have improved market access for African and
    American products in our respective markets by negotiating trade
    agreements that are mutually beneficial and increasing interaction
    between the United States and African private sectors through trade
    missions and high-level visits.
        Second, we have implemented technical assistance programs to
    increase African knowledge of, and ability to work within, the global
    trading system. Through invigorated reform and assistance efforts, we
    are helping Africa to build the trading infrastructure it will need to
    become a strong trade partner for the United States, integrated within
    the global economy.
        We have also put in place a number of initiatives to increase
    private investment in Sub-Saharan Africa, including the Department of
    Transportation's Safe Skies Initiative, increased access to credit for
    projects in African countries through the Export-Import Bank, and the
    Overseas Private Investment Corporation's equity funds to finance
    increased private investment. With FY99 funds appropriated for this
    purpose, we have begun to forgive remaining bilateral concessional debt
    owed by Africa's strongest reforming countries.
        Finally, we have begun planning for a broad-based meeting at the
    ministerial level with African countries to discuss how we can work most
    effectively together to forward our shared goal of sustained and
    mutually beneficial economic development and trade. We hope to hold the
    first U.S.-African Economic Cooperation Forum with representatives from
    Africa's strongest reforming countries later this year.
        I was disappointed that the 105th Congress did not complete
    consideration of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. This trade
    initiative is an important complement to our Partnership strategy. It
    would afford greater market

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    access for selected products from the strongest reforming countries in
    Africa and, by doing so, would help change the dynamic of our trade
    policy with the continent. The Act would also benefit American companies
    and workers by expanding our trade with the largest underdeveloped
    market in the world. I am committed to working for passage of the
    African Growth and Opportunity Act early in the 106th Congress.
        My Administration will continue working with the Congress, the U.S.
    private sector, the countries of Africa, and our trading partners to
    implement the policies and programs contained in the report and to
    promote reforms boosting trade, investment, and development in Africa.
            Sincerely,

                                                          William J. Clinton

    Note: Identical letters were sent to Jesse Helms, chairman, and Joseph
    R. Biden, Jr., ranking member, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations;
    Benjamin A. Gilman, chairman, and Sam Gejdenson, ranking member, House
    Committee on International Relations; William V. Roth, Jr., chairman,
    and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, ranking member, Senate Committee on
    Finance; and Bill Archer, chairman, and Charles B. Rangel, ranking
    member, House Committee on Ways and Means. This letter was released by
    the Office of the Press Secretary on January 14.