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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Remarks of Ambassador Harriet C. Babbitt, USAID Deputy Administrator
At the EnterpriseWorks Worldwide Millennium Event
December 8, 1999
Thank you Andy.
It's wonderful to see this impressive demonstration of support for EnterpriseWorks Worldwide.
This evening recognizes EnterpriseWorks' long and accomplished track record of improving productivity and marketing to allow small-scale farmers and entrepreneurs to help themselves and to profit from increased efficiency, expanded operations and new regional and international business links. In other words, to meet the challenges of globalization.
Making globalization work for the benefit of all people of all nations is the challenge of the new millennium. We thank EnterpriseWorks for the extraordinary talent and commitment it has dedicated to this goal.
Under Andy Maguire's leadership, and with the stewardship of Tom Downey, Rich Williamson and the rest of the Board, EnterpriseWorks guides partners in developing countries to build more competitive enterprises. We at USAID applaud you as you continue to take on the critical issues of poverty and responsible, environmentally sustainable business development in an increasingly global market.
USAID is proud to have provided funding for EWW since its creation in 1978. But we're even more proud that the organization has reached a point where it will become fully independent of USAID core funding. Graduates, so to speak!
This administration and USAID have long been strong supporters of microenterprise development. Nurturing successful small- to medium-sized businesses is crucial to any country's long-term economic growth and political stability. This is especially true of the developing nations of the world, where such businesses employ a majority of the workforce.
The two billion people in developing countries around the world engaged in small- and medium-sized businesses are the key to building the foundations of a middle class and a democratic society.
As Americans have learned through the years, democracy is a never-ending struggle. We became a 'newly independent state' in 1776 and for the past 223 years our democracy has been a work in process. It took us more than 10 years to draft a constitution; 89 years to rid our nation of slavery; 144 years to give women the vote; and 188 years to make all our citizens equal under the law.
The critical difference, of course, is that the modern world is much less forgiving. With global communications and with a global economy, everything moves at a much faster pace; and countries and societies must reform more quickly in order to take their rightful place in such a New World.
This change of tempo and the very different perceptions of what competitiveness and fairness means in a global economy reminds me of a great story about a 1972 meeting between Henry Kissinger and Chinese Foreign Minister Chou En-lai. Kissinger asked Chou En-lai what he thought about the French Revolution of 1789. With the vantage point gained by sitting atop 5,000 years of his country's history, Chou answered, "We Chinese feel it is too soon to tell."
Well it's probably too soon to tell about all the directions globalization will take us. And, as we saw in Seattle recently, there is little consensus about how to manage many of the political and economic changes that come with globalization, especially, but certainly not exclusively, within developing countries.
Will we be successful in managing the implications of globalization? I'm not certain, but I am certain that the good work of USAID and the good work of EnterpriseWorks makes it more likely that we will.
Thank you for asking me to join you this evening.
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
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Last Updated on: July 12, 2001 |
