[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.

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     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.