Remarks by Prime Minister Paul Martin - First Plenary Session: Economic Growth with Equity

TRANSCRIPT

REMARKS BY PRIME MINISTER PAUL MARTIN

First Plenary Session: Economic Growth with Equity
Special Summit of the Americas
Jan 12, 2004

From the time of the Miami Summit in 1994, we have all agreed to pursue a path of sound fiscal and monetary policy and trade liberalization. Since that time, our experience has taught us further important lessons.

First of all, we have come to an unequivocal conclusion that corruption is an insurmountable obstacle to any kind of economic growth. Second, we have learned that even we have the right macroeconomic policies. When our economies are subject to external shocks we need strong institutions as well, and a transparent financial sector to provide resilience. Third, we have learned that much more attention has to be paid to building an adequate social structure to support our citizens.

Now this is true for every country at this table. But it is even more to the point for the smaller economies among us, for the less developed countries - especially those dependent on a single commodity for export earnings. For them, the challenges of making the necessary adjustment to economic liberalization are huge and we should not minimize them.

There is no doubt that many governments have to reform regulation to improve corporate governance, to keep savings at home and to stimulate both foreign and domestic investment.

But we must understand we're asking them to do this at the same tme we're asking that they assist industries to re-tool to face new competition - new competition, which five years ago was thought to be 30 years away and which is now very much on our doorstep.

We're asking them to do this while helping workers to develop the basic skills. While most countries are trying to develop modern technological skills. We're asking them to do this while at the same time we're asking them to strengthen their conventional health care systems. At a time when new massive blights such HIV/AIDS that decimate their societies. All the while they are addressing the worldwide threat of terrorism, which we all now know does not discriminate between rich and poor.

This is tough stuff but that‘s the world we live in. No country can shy away from addressing these challenges.

Developing countries are asking for time. This is legitimate provided that the time is well-used. We, in developed countries, have in our history, also asked for time to adjust, and around the world, there are many large industrialized countries that continue to ask for more time when, to be honest, the time is long past due.

There should be no disagreement among us as to the ultimate goals that all of us seek: open economies that generate enough new wealth to be able to afford the public services that our citizens are entitled to.

The real question is how fast can we get there.

We must all have to recognize that reforms should unfold at a speed consonant with the ability of a country's institutions to absorb the adjustment.

In the developed economies, we have to be ready to help build those institutions. In the developing economies, however, the challenge of sequencing reforms must not become an excuse to shy away from them. Their objective must be to map out a sustainable path for achieving them. Fundamentally, what all of us must recognize is that we have a mutual responsibility not only to our own citizens, but also to each other. Otherwise, if we don't accept that, what does it mean to be a nation of the western hemisphere?

Citizens in all our countries, and the generations who follow them, demand no less.