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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Remarks by Don Pressley,
Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Europe & Eurasiato the Sixth Annual Conference
of the Central European Real Estate Associations Network (CEREAN)
Prague, Czech Republic
October 20, 2000
Thank you, Jan.
It is always a pleasure to return to Prague, and I am particularly pleased to be here to address the Central European Real Estate Associations Network.
So let me thank the Association of Real Estate Offices of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia for hosting this year's conference.
Before I begin, let me also thank the National Association of Realtors, one of USAID’s key partners in the effort to strengthen private property rights in Europe and Eurasia. I should say a special thanks Dennis Cronk, NAR’s president, for saying such nice things this morning about USAID. Dennis, it’s good to see you again.
And of course, the International Real Property Foundation, or IRPF, another valued partner, was also instrumental in bringing us all together for this conference—and so I thank them too.
In a way, we are all here today to celebrate the concept of private property, which, as little as ten years ago (as you know far better than I), was mostly unknown in this part of the world, and sometimes even illegal.
We celebrate the right to own property not only because we want and need a place to call our own but also because private property rights are fundamental to democracy itself:
In fact, over 200 years ago, when America’s Founding Fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence, they declared that every American had a ‘…right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’
But we know that famous sentence originated with the philosopher John Locke, who declared that every person had the right to life, liberty, and property.
Today, we understand that the right to own and sell property is part and parcel of the larger promise of freedom.
That is as true in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia as it is in America.
And it is for this reason that I have watched your progress over the past few years with such pleasure and admiration for all that you have done.
As I look around the room this morning, it’s hard to believe that it’s only been a few years since four Central European real estate associations founded CEREAN.
Just ten years after the Velvet Revolution, there are more than 30 real estate associations in ten countries around this region with a combined total membership of 50,000 real estate professionals.
Just ten years ago, I would never have believed that, today, I would be saying these numbers.
I consider this regional network to be one of the biggest successes of the post-Communist era, and, at USAID, we are proud to be a part of your success.
Like you, we are committed to developing and strengthening the business of private property development in its many forms.
In addition to working with IRPF to strengthen real estate associations, USAID has also supported land privatization efforts in countries like Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine.
In Ukraine, for example, USAID is involved in the Ukraine Enterprise Non-Agricultural Land Privatization Project, or UKRels. (I know that some of the people from UKRels are here today.)
In addition to designing and implementing procedures to sell non-agricultural land, UKRels also helps develop the capacity of the local and national government to oversee urban land privatization and land market development.
From April to June of this year, thanks in part to USAID and UKRels, over 580 land sales were approved by the local parliament, or the Rada—that’s 11 sales per day—generating 76 million Hryvnia, or nearly $14 million.
And we know that there are many more stories like this all over the region.
USAID has also helped set up what we like to call "sustainable partnerships"—a partnership between entities, international as well as regional, between nations, between communities, between institutions, and, most importantly, between people.
The premise behind creating these partnerships is that we each have a lot to learn from each other—but that there also needs to be a variety of mechanisms in place to continue these kind of relationships (like yours), when bilateral assistance programs (like mine) are no longer needed.
CEREAN uses the concept of sustainable partnerships too:
In fact, the CEREAN network was formed in recognition of the common interests of fellow real estate professionals throughout this region.
And CEREAN incorporates many forms of partnership, not just between real estate associations but between national and sub-regional associations, between associations and real estate professionals, and between associations and governments.
This is the kind of partnerships that I would like to see take root all over Europe and Eurasia, across all sectors.
So where do we go from here? You’ve established successful partnerships. But, now what?
In the 21st century, as more countries open their markets to free trade and their political systems to democracy, the challenges facing real estate professionals will only grow in scope and complexity.
As Dennis mentioned, globalization is revolutionizing the way we work, the way we live and, perhaps most important, the way we relate to each other across national boundaries.
Globalization is tearing down doors and building up networks between nations and individuals, between economies and cultures.
Of course, globalization presents tremendous opportunities as well.
To take advantage of those opportunities (and to meet any challenges along the way), we will need the best tools at our disposal:
We will need not only strong associations, like CEREAN, but also strong laws and institutions; not only honest markets but honest courts and leaders; and not only free access to information, but the freedom to use that information to our mutual benefit.
These things will not merely add to your success—they are the very foundations for your success.
Common sense tells us, for example, that a country without laws to protect private property is unlikely to attract significant foreign investment, and without strong courts to enforce those laws, it is unlikely to keep foreign investment.
In this new era of globalization, the role of government—even in the United States—is very different than it was as little as 20 or 30 years ago. But good governance today is perhaps even more critical to commercial success than in the past.
I know that many of you currently lobby your governments on behalf of fair housing, work to promote fair lending policies and raise the skill levels of real estate professionals. Many of you serve as experts and consultants to your governments.
Your knowledge and expertise on these matters can make a real difference in developing strong private property rights throughout the region, and so I encourage you, all of you, to continue this critical work.
But, I also hope that as real estate markets prosper in Europe and Eurasia, that you will also turn your attention to some of the issues that I mentioned earlier, and work to make your government itself stronger so that these fundamental rights are preserved.
As the premiere real estate association in Central and Eastern Europe, CEREAN in particular has the potential to make a real, lasting impact on the future success of this region.
I have seen you at work these past few years, and so I can say that I know this challenge, too, is within your reach.
Thank you again for inviting me here today.
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 |
