Cairo, Egypt
May 14, 2007
Keynote Remarks by Ambassador Ricciardone
Foreign Commercial Service Business Reception
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U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone |
Thank you, Amer. Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening. Despite what Amer has just said, tonight I will be speaking in English. I promise you that next time I’ll prepare some remarks in Arabic. It is a special pleasure to be with you on this occasion. I want to reassure everyone that American-Egyptian relations are wonderful, good, and mutually profitable on any subject that you would care to discuss.
It should be obvious, on the official level, that America and Egypt remain in close touch, that we work together on problems. In the past month alone, in the past few days, yesterday we had the Vice President of the United States here. Last week, we had the Secretary of State here working with Egypt and all the neighboring countries, and the Secretary General of the United Nations and many others to try to resolve the problems in Iraq. A week or two before that, we had the U.S. Secretary of Defense here. We had large Congressional delegations here in the month of April and we have four Congressmen coming in two weeks. It’s a very intense relationship, it’s a meaningful one, and it’s a profitable one.
But those of you who know our work at the Mission here in Cairo know that when I speak of Egyptian-American relations, I don’t usually refer to just the official part, all the diplomats and officials coming and going. I mean the people to people stuff of the relationship, that gives it real meaning and life and vibrancy. That’s what all of you are about this evening, in this room. It’s the people-to-people contacts, it’s the living, meaningful exchanges between Americans and Egyptians that will power this relationship through, no matter what happens in the world of politics and diplomacy. So my message tonight really is simple, in coming to meet with you. It is to commend you and encourage you in what you do as Egyptian and American business people working together.
I commend you first for building the Egyptian economy and creating jobs and opportunities for the people of this great country. And at the same time, for building even stronger and more powerful ties of friendship and mutual benefit between Egypt and the United States of America. Your successes are everywhere – in communications, banking, manufacturing, energy – and also in what has become known in recent years as "corporate social responsibility." This is the concept on which the greatest and most successful companies focus – they work on serving their communities and their countries, just as deliberately as they work on serving their shareholders. They serve both at the same time.
Thanks to your dedication and focus as individuals and as institutions, such as the American Chamber of Commerce, the Egyptian Business Association, and the Egyptian Junior Business Association, you have succeeded in diversifying and in expanding bilateral trade. In 2006, our two nations conducted a record $6.5 billion dollars worth of business together. That is an increase of 30 percent just since I arrived here about two years ago.
I mentioned the AmCham. … Tomorrow, Tomorrow, the AmCham will be having a very important meeting. Not only will Minister Rachid speak to the group, but also candidates for election of the AmCham Board and offices will be speaking and presenting themselves to the membership. This is something we are very proud of showing: that an organization can renew itself through democratic means, and that people can run against each other and remain good friends and colleagues no matter who wins, because who really wins in the end is the institution. So I look forward to participating in that, Hisham, tomorrow – thank you for making that possible.
The American and Egyptian people benefit every day from the efforts of our business people on both sides. We at the United States Mission in Cairo are here to support you. We are here as partners. We want to see Egypt and the United States prosper together.
Let me touch briefly on my Mission’s economic strategy. It includes two core elements: economic assistance and support for sustainable economic growth through trade and investment. We saw the specific business services that Amer and his colleagues have shown this evening. Over the past three decades the American people have invested, and I use the word invested, over $28 billion dollars in economic assistance alone to improve the quality of life and business opportunities for the Egyptian people. And that’s in addition to contributing $30 billion dollars in military assistance so that Egyptians will be strong and secure as well as prosperous. We know that security is an important part of prosperity.
This assistance is a direct legacy of Egypt’s visionary role, its leadership, in establishing peace nearly three decades ago at Camp David. This assistance represents a major share of America’s global assistance budget every year.
Last year alone, we appropriated $455 million dollars in direct economic assistance in health, education and microfinance so that Egypt’s youth will have brighter futures. This sustained American commitment reflects our shared interest in Egypt’s prosperity and its weight in promoting regional peace and stability.
As we had hoped, Egyptians have shown what the energies of a great people can accomplish in little more than a generation, with bold leadership for peace, freeing the people from the curses of hate and war.
Our assistance and that of other foreign governments has great value in itself, but foreign government assistance alone will not bring about sustained improvements in economies and standards of living. Private trade and investment are the real engines for creating jobs and sustaining economic growth.
That record $6.5 billion dollars in Egyptian-American trade that I mentioned from last year, which still constitutes the highest single-country trading relationship that Egypt has, certainly accounts for far more livelihoods and higher living standards than foreign assistance can ever provide. As entrepreneurs, you are used to looking to the future even as you keep abreast of current market realities. You are always searching for new business opportunities, new customers, fresh ways to keep ahead of the competition and new areas in which to invest your energies and talent – both for current returns and for future growth.
That is exactly the entrepreneurial approach toward our business – the business of American-Egyptian interests -- that we take as an Embassy. The United States and Egypt are considering several initiatives to further boost our trade and investment. I think the most promising example is the possibility of updating our bilateral investment treaty. The Governments of Egypt and the United States will rely on the advice and insights of the Egyptian and American business communities and organizations as we develop the concepts for such a new treaty. We will also welcome your proposals for other initiatives to promote our mutual prosperity in the ever more competitive global economy.
Through sustained cooperation, through public-private partnerships, and through our business communities’ leadership and commitment to corporate social responsibility, together we will ensure that our two peoples benefit from the positive effects of globalization while mitigating the sometimes painful dislocations that global competition can impose.
Egypt’s history is rich with a tradition of business leaders like Talaat Harb, who sought to ensure that corporate gains benefit the broader community. This tradition is even stronger today. Both American and Egyptian corporations such as Apache, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Proctor and Gamble, Microsoft, Mobinil, Oracle, and Orascom Construction all support health, education and environmental projects to ensure that all Egyptians will prosper. Apache’s Schools for Egypt’s Girls Project has built 200 environmentally-sound schools in rural areas in the past two years. Intel’s Teach to the Future Program has already trained 54,000 teachers and moved to train a total of 650,000 teachers by 2010. Hewlett-Packard is participating in partnerships with the Egyptian Government to train students and train workers.
Public-private partnerships are also on the rise. Our own United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is partnering with Vodaphone to bring information technology to 75 schools in Fayoum, Minia and Beni Suef, and with Coca-Cola to support sanitation projects. We can be proud of all of these initiatives. They symbolize our collective commitment to serving our local and global communities and our collective faith in the potential of this country and its people.
Thank you again for joining us this evening and for being such fine partners with American business. Let’s celebrate our shared success and plan ahead for still greater achievements this year and in the years to come.
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