[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 39 (Monday, October 4, 1999)]
[Pages 1853-1856]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Annual Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the 
World Bank

September 29, 1999

    Thank you very much, Secretary Summers, President Wolfensohn, 
Chairman Acharya, Director Camdessus, Vice President Fall, Secretary 
Anjaria.
    Let me begin by saying how very grateful I am to be here with all of 
you. I appreciate the generous introduction. Some of you may have heard 
me say this before, but the introduction that Secretary Summers just 
gave me is an illustration of one of my unbending laws of political 
life: Whenever possible, be introduced by someone you have appointed to 
high office. [Laughter] It is much easier because he's done such a 
superb job, and I thank him.
    Let me say, all of you know that a year ago we were here in a time 
of crisis, perhaps the most severe financial crisis in the global 
economy since the end of the Second World War, a grave challenge to the 
IMF and the World Bank. Thanks to the hard work that you and your 
countries have done, economies that were sliding down are rising again.
    We have also worked hard, as Secretary Summers said, in the wake of 
these crises to prevent future ones, to respond more quickly and 
effectively, to lessen the toll they take on ordinary citizens. We have 
intensified our efforts to construct a global financial architecture 
that is stable and strong in the new conditions of the new economy.
    Still, those who were hit by this crisis were hit very hard, and 
many are still reeling. People lost jobs and businesses and dreams. So 
this can only be considered a continuing challenge for us, certainly not 
a time for complacency. We have more to do to restore people's faith in 
the future and to restore their faith, frankly, in the global economy 
and in global markets. Therefore, we have more to do to reform the 
global financial foundation upon which the future will be built.
    As we approach the 21st century, we must also ask ourselves, 
however, is it enough just to fix the market that is? Should we accept 
the fact that, at a time when the people in the United States are 
enjoying perhaps the strongest economy in their history, 1.3 billion of 
our fellow human beings survive on less than a dollar a day? Should we 
accept the fact that nearly 40 million people--after the green 
revolution, when most of us discuss agriculture and food as a cause for 
international trade conflicts because we want to fight over who sells 
the most food, since there are so many places that can produce more than 
their own people need--are we supposed to accept the fact that nearly 40 
million people a year die of hunger? That's nearly equal to the number 
of all the people killed in World War II.
    Are we supposed to accept the fact that even though technology has 
changed the equation of the role of energy in the production of wealth; 
even though technology has changed the distances in time and space 
necessary for learning and for business as well as educational 
interchanges--are we supposed to face the fact that some people and 
nations are doomed to be left behind forever?

[[Page 1854]]

    I hope we will not accept that. I hope we will start the new 
millennium with a new resolve: to give every person in the world, 
through trade and technology, through investments in education and 
health care, the chance to be part of a widely shared prosperity, in 
which all the peoples' potential can be developed more fully. This is 
the challenge of the second half-century of the life of the IMF and the 
World Bank. And for me, it is a personal priority of the highest order.
    Open trade already has improved the prospects of hundreds of 
millions by marketing the fruits of their labors and creativity beyond 
their borders. In this way, both the IMF and the World Bank have played 
a vital role in helping more nations to thrive. We need you to work with 
the WTO to build a rules-based framework for global trade. We need you 
to help developing countries provide education and training to lift 
wages and to establish social safety nets for tough transitions.
    I applaud the strong commitment you've made at these meetings for 
concrete manifestations of support. We all must work to keep the 
economies we have influence over open and trade growing for developing 
and industrial powers alike.
    In 2 months, I want to launch a new type of trade round in Seattle 
at the WTO ministerial. I want this round to be about jobs and 
development. I want it to raise working conditions for all. I want it to 
advance our shared goal of sustainable development. By breaking down 
barriers to trade, leveling the playing field, we will give more workers 
and farmers in those countries that are struggling for tomorrow--and in 
leading industrial nations, as well--more opportunities to produce for 
the global marketplace.
    In Seattle, I hope we will pledge to keep cyberspace tariff-free, to 
help developing countries make better and wider use of technology, 
whether biotechnology or the Internet. I hope we will pledge to open 
markets in agriculture and industrial products and services, creating 
new activities for growth and development.
    I hope we will also work to advance the admission of the 38 
developing countries who've applied for WTO membership. And I hope we'll 
keep working to give the least developed countries greater access to 
global markets. Here in the United States, I am working hard to persuade 
our Congress to pass my trade proposals for Africa and the Caribbean 
Basin this year.
    But the wealth of nations depends on more than trade. It also 
depends on the health of nations. Last week at the United Nations I 
committed the United States to accelerating the development and delivery 
of vaccines for AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases which 
disproportionately afflict poor citizens in the developing world.
    At the same time, we must help these nations avert the health costs 
and pollution of the industrial age, using clean technologies that not 
only improve the environment but grow the economy. Institutions like the 
World Bank play a special role here. Your energy strategy is a very good 
start, and I thank you for it. I urge the Bank to continue setting 
aggressive targets for lending that promotes clean energy. It is no 
longer necessary to have industrial-age energy use patterns to grow a 
modern, powerful economy. In fact, those economies will emerge more 
quickly with more sustainable development strategies.
    Some of you in this room, a minority still, are nodding your heads 
``yes'' as I say this. If you believe it, we must work together to 
achieve it. These efforts must be part of a broader approach that 
ensures the integrity and openness of emerging economies. Last Saturday 
the G-7 finance ministers outlined specific safeguards for Russia and 
called for comprehensive review by the World Bank and the IMF to make 
sure that funds are used appropriately in high-risk environments. The 
United States will continue to insist on such accountability.
    For many developing countries, however, there is a greater obstacle 
in the path to progress. For many of them, excessive and completely 
unsustainable debt can halt progress, drag down growth, drain resources 
that are needed to meet the most basic human conditions, like clean 
water, shelter, health care, and education. Debt and debt relief are 
normally subjects for economists. But there is nothing academic about 
them. Simply put, unsustainable debt is helping to

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keep too many poor countries and poor people in poverty. That is clearly 
why the Pope and so many other world leaders from all walks of life have 
asked us all to do more to reduce the debt of the poorest nations as a 
gift to the new millennium, not just to them but to all the rest of us, 
as well.
    Personally, I don't believe we can possibly agree to the idea that 
these nations that are so terribly poor should always be that way. I 
don't think we can, in good conscience, say we support the idea that 
they should choose between making interest payments on their debt and 
investing in their children's education. It is an economic and moral 
imperative that we use this moment of global consensus to do better. I 
will do everything I can to aid this trend. Any country, committed to 
reforming its economy, to vaccinating and educating its children, should 
be able to make those kinds of commitments and keep them.
    In June, at the G-7 summit in Cologne, the world's wealthiest 
nations made an historic pledge to help developing nations. The debt 
relief program we agreed upon is a big step in the right direction, 
dedicating faster and deeper debt relief to countries that dedicate 
themselves to fundamental reform. This initiative seeks to tie debt 
relief to poverty reduction and to make sure that savings are spent 
where they should be, on education, on fighting AIDS and preventing it, 
on other critical needs. It will help heavily indebted poor countries to 
help themselves and help to build a framework to support similar and 
important efforts by the IMF, the World Bank, and international 
financial institutions.
    More than 430 million people could benefit from this effort. In 
Bolivia, for example, debt relief could help the Government nearly 
double the people's access to clean water by 2004. In Uganda, it could 
allow health and education spending to increase by 15 percent between 
1998 and 2001--50 percent, excuse me. Rural development expenditures 
there would more than double. That's why we all must provide our fair 
share of financing to global debt relief.
    Last week, to make good on America's commitment, I amended my budget 
request to Congress and asked for nearly $1 billion over 4 years for 
this purpose. We must keep adequate assistance flowing to the developing 
countries, especially through the International Development Association. 
I'm encouraged by the financial commitments made by some of the other 
donor countries this past week. And I call on our Congress to respond to 
the moral and economic urgency of this issue and see to it that America 
does its part. I have asked for the money and shown how it would be paid 
for, and I ask the Congress to keep our country shouldering its fair 
share of the responsibility.
    Now, let me made one final commitment. Today I am directing my 
administration to make it possible to forgive 100 percent of the debt 
these countries owe to the United States when--and this is quite 
important--when needed to help them finance basic human needs and when 
the money will be used to do so. In this context, we will work closely 
with other countries to maximize the benefits of the debt reduction 
initiative.
    We believe the agreements reached this weekend will make it possible 
for three-quarters of the highly indebted poorest countries, committed 
to implementing poverty and growth strategies, to start receiving 
benefits sometime next year--actually receiving the benefits sometime 
next year.
    If we do these things as nations, as international institutions, as 
a global community, then we can build a trading system that strengthens 
our economy and supports our values. We can build a global economy and a 
global society that leaves no one behind, that carries all countries 
into a new century that we hope will be marked by greater peace and 
greater prosperity for all people.
    We have before us perhaps as great an opportunity as the people of 
the world have ever seen. We will be judged by our children and 
grandchildren by whether we seize that opportunity. I hope and believe 
that we all will do so.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 2:07 p.m. in the main ballroom at the 
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to James D. 
Wolfensohn, President, World Bank Group; Mahesh Acharya, Chairman of the 
Board of Governors, Michel Camdessus, Managing Director,

[[Page 1856]]

Cheikh Ibrahima Fall, Vice President and Corporate Secretary, and 
Shailendra J. Anjaria, Secretary, International Monetary Fund.