USAID: Speeches and Testimonies

This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.

Remarks for
Ambassador Harriet Babbitt
Deputy Administrator, USAID
National Association of State Development Agencies (NASDA)
Annual Directors Meeting
Washington, D.C.
April 24, 1998
I am delighted to be here, and I want to thank Miles Friedman and the National Association of State Development Agencies for inviting me to share some thoughts with you today.
As a relative newcomer to the Agency for International Development, I have been on a steep learning curve over the last several months -- and there is so much to learn!
USAID spans an enormous spectrum of human endeavor, perhaps more than any other agency in the U.S. government. We assist countries with nationwide capital market development -- and fund loan programs for microenterprises in tiny villages.
We train agriculture researchers -- and midwives. We help build national justice systems, rural water systems and early warning systems for locusts. We're involved with distance learning and disaster assistance; child survival and community building; refu gees, regulatory reform and resource management.
-- And we have programs in more than 120 countries all over the globe.
To do all of these things well, we must provide developing countries access to the creativity and cutting-edge technology of American industry. We also need to encourage American companies to apply their ingenuity and expertise to finding efficient, affor dable solutions to the problems of developing countries.
When that happens, the benefits flow both ways.
Having worked a lot with bankers, I have been particularly interested in learning about the unique partnerships USAID has formed with the private sector.
NASDA is a key part of this process because you reach companies -- big and small -- that otherwise might not become a part of this fruitful exchange.
USAID also has in place Memoranda of Agreement with 20 state trade offices throughout the country. We work closely with a number of U.S. Embassy and Foreign and Commercial Service staffers, especially in Africa. We also negotiating agreements with the Dep artment of Commerce and U.S. Small Business Administration to share trade information about developing countries.
These cooperative relationships support our development programs by enhancing developing countries access to U.S. technology and expertise.
NASDA works closely with our Global Technology Network, administered by USAID's Office of Business Development. This is an integrated, computer-based service for matching trade leads with businesses in 35 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. This network will soon be expanded to Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States.
Leads are matched by sector with 60,000 firms in the Global Trade Network database and disseminated to the appropriate companies by fax or e-mail -- usually within 48 hours. They are then followed up with state trade organizations and our tech reps in dev eloping countries.
As you know, developing countries are the fastest growing markets for U.S. exports today -- and for tomorrow.
Even our most basic development activities also help to lay the groundwork for future trade.
When USAID helps these countries build human capacity through health and education, we are also helping to create the conditions that make it possible for those markets to develop. When our programs assist a country in improving its own agriculture, one o f the results that surprises many people is that new markets open up for American agricultural products.
This happens in many industries, but especially in areas like environmentally friendly waste management and clean energy, where Americans excel.
By helping firms in your states gain access to international business opportunities you also give people in developing countries a better chance to build better lives for themselves and their children.
By increasing prosperity and stability in developing countries, you are also helping to build a more peaceful world for us all.
That's why USAID is proud of our partnership with NASDA -- and eager to build on it.
You probably know that USAID is the lead agency for the U.S. government's international environmental efforts. One of my most important responsibilities as deputy administrator is coordinating intergovernmental agency activities involving climate change.
Protecting the global environment is a central element of USAID's sustainable development mission. The challenge is daunting. I am glad NASDA is an important partner in our efforts to meet that challenge.
As Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in her Earth Day speech at the Smithsonian Tuesday:

The threats we face from environmental harm are not as spectacular as those of a terrorist's bomb or missile, but we know that the health of our families will be affected by the health of the global environment. The prosperity of our families will be affe cted by whether other nations develop in sustainable ways. And the security of our nation will be affected by whether we are able to prevent conflicts from arising over scarce resources.

She noted that within two decades, China will displace the United States as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
In 30 years, today's developing countries will be the largest source of these emissions.
While the industrialized world may have been the major contributor to the global warming problem, that does not mean that developing countries will benefit from repeating our mistakes. There is no time for pointing fingers. We all need to act -- and act w isely.
Developing countries have the most to lose from global climate change. Just as they are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions -- they also represent the greatest opportunities for reducing the potential damage at the lowest cost.
Most are heavily dependent on agriculture, much of it small-scale. They are generally ill-equipped to adapt to changing weather patterns, coastal flooding, and disruption of water supplies.
Global warming would increase desertification that already threatens many dry countries. It will also intensify the movement of dangerous vector-borne diseases into new areas.
The small island nations are acutely aware of the threat of sea level rises and storm surges -- some could be virtually obliterated. These little nations are leaders in the effort to persuade other countries to act.
But that does not let the United States off the hook. As the largest economy in the world and the largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions, we have a special responsibility to provide leadership.
USAID's five-year strategy targets one billion dollars to assist developing countries in addressing global climate change -- with special focus on nine key countries and three regions.
To make the most of scarce federal dollars, we will partner with the states and U.S. businesses -- through NASDA, other associations and non-governmental organizations to do the job. That way we tap into the innovation and entreprenuerial talents in all o ur states.
USAID will invest $516 million in environmental activities this fiscal year and is requesting $578 million for FY 1999. This includes technical assistance and training in Asia, Latin America, Africa, Central Europe and the Newly Independent States.
The current global market for environmental goods and services is estimated to be $400 billion. This market is expected to double in the next decade, with most of that growth in the developing countries. The assistance we provide now will expand demand fo r environmental services and technologies -- opening up additional future opportunities for U.S. firms.
As you know, USAID has initiated several other programs to broker partnerships between American and foreign firms for trade and investment in environmental technology.
These are important way to engage the enormous talent and energy of small and medium-sized U.S. businesses.
NASDA is a key and highly effective partner in both the U.S.-Asia Environmental Partnership
(US-AEP) and the Initiative for Environmental Technology.
US-AEP has leveraged over $1 billion in U.S. environmental exports through fellowships, exchanges, matching grants to American small businesses, trade leads, and information on infrastructure project and finance opportunities.
NASDA awarded 37 US-AEP grants of up to $20,000 in 1997. Sales generated from 176 earlier grants have resulted in nearly $330 million in revenues. In 1996 alone, that program reached into 46 states.
An initial $20,000 grant in 1993 opened doors to markets in Taiwan and Thailand for a Georgia supplier of waste containment equipment. By 1996, the company's sales totalled $58.5 million in seven Asian nations, which it said were "a direct result of the grant."
USAID will obligate at least $1.5 million to NASDA in FY 1998 for the US-AEP program.
NASDA is also an important partner in the Initiative on Environmental Technology, which was launched after the 1994 Summit of the Americas.
This program enhances U.S. private sector efforts to promote sustainable development through pollution prevention, efficient resource use, and private environmental investments in this Hemisphere.
USAID also initiated a $200,000 grant program in 1995 to help NASDA members introduce the environmental technologies and services offered by companies in their states to Latin American countries.
NASDA identified 17 companies from all parts of the United States which were awarded $10,000 grants for travel to selected Latin American countries. These trips help establish contacts to showcase environmental technologies including energy conservation, wastewater treatment and pollution prevention.
A California company, ENNIX, (formerly Microbial Solutions) used a grant to take its bioremediation technology to Brazil. That technology is now being used to improve water quality by reducing groundwater contamination. At the same time, it will increase production and product quality in Brazilian fish and shrimp farming and hog and poultry operations.
ENNIX has signed an exclusive agreement with Ralston Purina for this biological water treatment, and total sales by the end of the year are estimated to be $1.7 million. Over the next five years, their sales are estimated sales to be $15 million.
Now, that is the kind of success story that brings real excitement to our development work!
[-- I believe someone from ENNIX is here in the audience today.]
After consultations with NASDA, USAID decided to fund a second -- more focused -- phase, which will draw on the lessons of the first phase. The second phase will concentrate on the Andean region, promoting ways to reduce, reuse and eliminate pollutants at each stage of industrial processes in mining, metal finishing, food processing and tanneries. USAID will provide $200,000 in the next fiscal year to fund 12 NASDA grants of $10,000, plus three $20,000 follow-up grants.
We are also moving into a second phase of our work in the newly independent states of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Those countries continue to suffer from the appalling man-made environmental damage they inherited.
Much of USAID's earlier assistance focused on establishing legal, policy and regulatory frameworks in the newly independent states and building institutional capacity to manage environmental resources.
Now we are ready to build on these foundations with a 5-year $22 million regional Environmental Partnership Program run by our Bureau for Europe and the New Independent States (ENI). We anticipate that this program will be fully operational by September.
This effort will focus on increasing environmentally-related trade and investment flows between the U.S. and the ENI region. It will include partnership grants, a best-practices website, and a program identifying and building business and municipal demand for U.S. environmental goods and services and matching demand with potential suppliers.
Engaging American business in solutions to problems in developing countries enhances USAID's development work. All of you in this room play a critical role in our efforts to reach out to and involve the private sector.
We also deeply appreciate NASDA's efforts to alleviate the widespread misconceptions about what foreign aid does and how much it costs. You know our $1.6 billion budget this year is almost exactly what it was 10 years ago. Continue to set the record strai ght!
I know of no aspect of American government about which there are more misconceptions than foreign aid.
It may sound strange, but I find some hope in that. As we all inform them of the facts, more Americans will realize what a tiny portion of the federal budget actually is devoted to foreign aid.
I believe they will come to see why Secretary Albright has said that half of America's future history may be determined by less than one percent of our federal budget.
You in NASDA know that today's foreign assistance programs not only are creating a better future for the people of developing countries -- they are creating the markets of the future for your states.
You know that we are not taking away American jobs when we assist economic growth in developing countries -- we are increasing future jobs in America.
The taxpayers' investment in foreign assistance is not only the right thing to do -- it's the smart thing to do.
We look forward to working with you to solve these problems and capture these opportunities.
Thank you.
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.

Last Updated on: July 18, 2001