    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 44 (Monday, November 5, 2001)]
    [Pages 1563-1565]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
     Remarks to the African Growth and Opportunity Forum

     October 29, 2001

         Well, thank you very much for that warm welcome. Many of you have
    traveled half a world for this gathering, and I'm honored to be with
    you. I want to thank you all for coming.
         This conference was delayed by the events of September the 11th,
    but our common goal will not be delayed or denied. We have a unique
    opportunity to build ties of trade and trust that will improve the lives
    on both our continents. And we will seize this opportunity.
         I appreciate so very much the leadership of our Secretary of State.
    He has done a fabulous job of assembling a coalition of people from all
    around the world to fight terror. I picked the right man for this time
    in history.
         I want to thank the Ministers and Ambassadors from the 35 African
    nations who are represented here. Thank you all for coming. I appreciate
    the three members of my Cabinet who are on the stage with us today,
    members who represent trade and economic activity and economic
    development, people who join me in my commitment for a freer world and a
    prosperous Africa. I want to thank Secretary of Treasury O'Neill,
    Secretary of Commerce Evans, and U.S. Trade Representative Zoellick for
    being here, as well. Thank you all for coming.
         I appreciate USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios for being here, as
    well. Andy, thank you for coming. And I, too, want to thank Members of
    the United States Congress, Republican and Democrat, who have come to
    join on this important effort. Senator Lugar, Congressman Royce,
    Congressman Levin, and Congressman Jefferson, I'm honored you all would
    take time to be here to represent the solidarity of our entire
    Government in promoting what's right and responsible on the African
    continent.
         And I want to thank members of the business and NGO communities who
    are here, as well. And thank you for working so hard to put together the
    coalition that enabled the passage of one of the most hopeful acts that
    Congress has passed. I appreciate your time; I appreciate your efforts;
    and I appreciate your concern.
         Let me begin by thanking the nations of Africa for their support
    following September the 11th. America will never forget the many
    messages of sympathy and solidarity sent by African heads of state.
    Ambassadors from southern Africa presented a check to the American Red
    Cross to assist the families of the victims. One Rwandan journalist
    wrote in a condolence book at the U.S. Embassy, ``We feel and understand
    what the Americans must be experiencing. The forces of evil must be
    fought and defeated wherever they are.'' That's represents exactly the
    firm resolve of the American people. We will fight and defeat the forces
    of evil wherever they are.
         Over 80 countries, including Ethiopia and Egypt, Ghana and Gambia,
    Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Togo, and Zimbabwe, lost citizens along
    with the Americans on September the 11th. The United States is deeply
    grateful to all countries and all African countries that have now joined
    in a great coalition against terror.
         We are grateful for the political support offered by the
    Organization of African Unity and by many African regional
    organizations. We appreciate the basing and overflight rights offered by
    African countries and the growing number of African nations that have
    committed to cracking down on terrorist financing.
         We are encouraged by the strong declaration issued at Dakar by 28
    African countries calling on all African nations to ratify the 1999
    Algiers Convention Against Terrorism. I spoke to Senegal's President
    Wade, to thank him for his leadership in convening the Dakar meeting.
    The Algiers Convention was developed following the 1998 Embassy bombings
    by Al Qaida, which took 12 lives and over 200 African lives, including
    many

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    Muslims. Now it is critically important that this convention be ratified
    so that African nations have additional judicial, diplomatic, and
    financial tools to root out terrorism. And as nations begin to put these
    measures in place, the United States will look for ways to work
    together.
         In an era of global trade and global terror, the futures of the
    developed world and the developing world are closely linked. We benefit
    from each other's success. We're not immune from each other's troubles.
    We share the same threats, and we share the same goal: to forge a future
    of more openness, trade, and freedom.
         Recent events have provided the world with a clear and dramatic
    choice. Our enemies, the terrorists and their supporters, offer a narrow
    and backward vision. They feed resentment, envy, and hatred. They fear
    human creativity, choice, and diversity. Powerless to build a better
    world, they seek to destroy a world that is passing them by. And they
    will not succeed.
         We offer a better way. When nations respect the creativity and
    enterprise of their people, they find social and economic progress. When
    nations open their markets to the world, their people find new ways to
    create wealth. When nations accept the rules of the modern world, they
    discover the benefits of the modern world.
         This vision of progress is not owned by any nation or any culture.
    It belongs to humanity, every African, every Muslim, every man or woman
    who wants to make it real. Good governments, of course, will look
    different from place to place. Cultures must preserve their unique
    values. Yet, everywhere--east and west, north and south--there is a
    model of successful development, a market economy trading with the world
    that respects human rights and the rule of law. Every nation that adopts
    this vision will find in America a trading partner, an investor, and a
    friend.
         And it's for this reason that America welcomes and supports the new
    African initiative put forward by visionary African leaders. To fulfill
    this vision of progress, we must return to the steady, patient work of
    building a world that trades in freedom.
         No nation in our time has entered the fast track of development
    without first opening up its economy to world markets. The African
    Growth and Opportunity Act is a roadmap for how the United States and
    Africa can tap the power of markets to improve the lives of our
    citizens.
         This law is just over a year, but it is already showing its
    tremendous power. During the first half of this year, the total trade
    with sub-Sahara Africa rose nearly 17 percent, compared to last year.
    U.S. imports from the region now exceed $11.5 billion. Some individual
    countries have shown staggering increases in trade. Four countries--
    Senegal, Seychelles, Eritrea, and Madagascar--saw their exports to the
    United States grow by over 100 percent.
         Behind these numbers are investments in projects that are making a
    real impact on people's lives. In Kenya, the Government projects that
    AGOA will create 150,000 new jobs over the next several years. Propose
    new projects--in Lesotho, textiles sectors alone are expected to inject
    $122 million of investment into that country's economy, 4 times the
    amount of all official development assistance the country received in
    1999.
         We need to build on these successes. Across the continent, African
    governments are reforming their economies and their governments in order
    to take advantage of AGOA. These nations are working hard to fight
    corruption, improve labor standards, and reform their customs regimes.
    The United States will work in partnership with African nations to
    help--to help them build the institutions and expertise they need to
    benefit from trade.
         Today I'm pleased to announce the creation of $200 million Overseas
    Private Investment Corporation support facility that will give American
    firms access to loans, guarantees, and political risk insurance for
    investment projects in sub-Sahara Africa.
         I've asked our Trade and Development Agency to establish a regional
    office in Johannesburg, to provide guidance to governments and companies
    which seek to liberalize their trade laws, improve the investment
    environment, and take advantage of the free trade act between our two
    continents.

    [[Page 1565]]

         I'm also announcing today the launch of the Trade for African
    Development and Enterprise Program. With $15 million in initial funding,
    the trade program will establish regional hubs for global
    competitiveness that will help African businesses take advantage of
    AGOA, to sell more of their products on the global markets.
         Countries gathered here today have seen the benefits of trade. And
    we have an obligation to make the case for more open trade throughout
    the entire world. I hope that African nations will be a powerful voice
    for the launch of a new round of global trade talks in Doha, beginning
    next month. Trade and sound economic policies are essential to growth
    and development, but they are not, themselves, sufficient to seize the
    hopeful opportunities of markets and trade. Nations need citizens that
    are educated and are healthy.
         My Government will continue its strong support for responsible debt
    relief, so that nations can devote more resources to education and
    health. We will continue to press multilateral development banks to
    provide more assistance in the form of grants, instead of loans. We are
    moving forward on an initiative I announced in July to improve basic
    education and teacher training in Africa. And the United States is ready
    to commit more resources to the new global fund to combat HIV/AIDS and
    other infectious diseases, once the fund demonstrates success.
         And finally, as AGOA makes clear, economic freedom and political
    freedom must go hand in hand. People who trade in freedom want to live
    in freedom. From Nigeria to South Africa, African nations have made
    great strides--great strides--toward democracy. The democratic
    transitions of the last decade mean that a majority of Africans now live
    in democratic states. That is progress we will praise and progress we
    must work hard to continue.
         Our times present many challenges. Yet, I'm optimistic about our
    shared future. I know we can build a world that grows in prosperity and
    trades in freedom. I know we can bring health and education to more
    people. I know we can defeat terror--defeat terror now, so that our
    children and grandchildren can grow up in free societies.
         Out of the sorrow of September 11th, I see opportunity, a chance
    for nations to strengthen and rethink and reinvigorate their
    relationships. We share more than a common enemy; we share a common
    goal: to expand our ties of commerce and culture, to renew our
    commitment to development and democracy. And together, we will meet that
    goal.
         May God bless Africa, and may God continue to bless America.

      Note:  The President spoke at 11:17 a.m. in the Loy Henderson
    Conference Room at the Department of State headquarters building. In his
    remarks, he referred to President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal.