FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
06/02/2015 11:38 AM EDT
Remarks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab Future City Workshop
Remarks
Charles H. Rivkin
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs
Taiwan Air Force (TAF) Innovation Base
Taipei, Taiwan
June 2, 2015
Mr. Premier, Mr. Deputy Minister, distinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen.
It’s an honor to be part of today’s ceremony. And as a former businessman myself, it’s a pleasure to speak with innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs like you.
Before I was Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, I was the U.S. Ambassador to France, and before that I spent 20 years working as President and CEO in the entertainment industry in California.
I ran an award-winning entertainment companies such as The Jim Henson Company, which created the world-famous “Muppets.” I also worked at a company called Wildbrain, which created an innovative educational TV series called “Yo Gabba Gabba!”
I want to tell you a quick story about that program. When I worked at Wildbrain, I met these young, creative entrepreneurs in Southern California that wanted to reinvent children’s television. They were parents that didn’t want to watch shows with their children that they couldn’t stand. They wanted to put the “cool” back in preschool.
They created a show that brought in young indie rock bands like the Ting Tings, the Shins, the Roots, Weezer, and Devo. They even had beatboxer Biz Markie teaching counting. So guess what… no one wanted to buy it. They were scared. It was different. No one had seen anything like it before. What if the show failed?
These entrepreneurs borrowed money to produce one episode and put it up on their own website. Traffic was so high that the server crashed. They moved it to YouTube and received millions of hits. Now networks called us begging to pick up the show they had passed on.
Being an entrepreneur means you don’t listen to “no.” You keep pushing. If you fail, you learn from your failure.
Having shared that story, I am profoundly aware that the world has changed in so many ways, especially for people like you. You’re part of a generation that has grown up with two seemingly opposed realities.
One is the idea that the internet, technology and other hallmarks of modern life have made things easier, more accessible and easier to connect with a global community.
But the other reality is this: When it comes to finding economic opportunity, whether that’s finding a job or building a business, there is nothing easy at all. You’re on your own.
So what does a young person do in a world where the only message seems to be: “Create it yourself”? I think we all know the answer to that question. I certainly did as a businessman in California: It’s about being an entrepreneur.
But being an entrepreneur isn’t enough. You can dream about what you want. But you also need support in many different ways.
That can include a business education – I received an MBA myself – or start-up money so you can launch your business. It can be an incubator where you can develop your idea, and in the larger sense, a government that adopts policies that support the aspirations of people like you.
It can also be a reliable and respected system of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secret protection to promote the products of your innovation and hard work.
As you heard from Dr. Larson, it can mean support from a university that understands the importance of the links between education, innovation, and economic opportunity – and the importance of supporting entrepreneurs so that societies can benefit and prosper.
MIT has been educating leaders since 1861 – when the industrial revolution was at full tilt. Now it’s a leader in the next revolution.
Today, faculty members, research staff, and students at the Media Lab work in more than 25 research groups on more than 350 projects. They include digital approaches for treating neurological disorders, creating stackable electric cars for sustainable cities, and creating new imaging technologies that can “see around a corner.”
Media Lab entrepreneurship programs have already resulted in more than 130 spin-offs – so I am sure you are proud and excited to be part of this. Even the building in which we’re sitting reflects the can-do spirit that is so obviously encouraged here. It used to be an Air Force facility. Now it’s the TAF Innovation Base.
But I’m not only here as a former businessman. I’m also here to tell you that my government – and my Bureau – are working in many different ways to support entrepreneurs and innovators in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world.
Through various efforts such as our Global Entrepreneurship Program – or GEP – we work with the private sector and other partners within the U.S. government to train and empower thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs.
We create programs and workshops similar to this one, and make tools and networks available to you. We help small businesses expand into new markets. We help mobilize new investments.
We connect emerging innovators with mentors and networks, and we expand access to capital.
As we support entrepreneurs in hands-on ways, we also work with other economies to create better environments for innovators like you. That includes working to implement and enforce intellectual property rights so no one can steal your ideas or new products. By protecting innovators and creators, we also reassure their investors to take those risks which propel innovation.
We are happy to be long-term and like-minded partners with Taiwan on IPR protection – not only bilaterally but through organizations like the WTO and APEC.
We undertake these policies not only to protect creators but to generate revenue and create jobs.
And that’s why today, I am pleased to announce the launch of a joint strategy on IPR and innovation, dedicated to enhancing this climate for innovation.
In fact, I am joined today by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Senior Counsel Mark Cohen, who’s part of a team of U.S. and Taiwan partners focused on precisely that.
In a world where the message is “Create it yourself,” it’s critical to make sure that what you create isn’t just protected but rewarded.
So as this new joint strategy shows, we are very much in your corner as innovators. I would like to share three big reasons why we support you.
First of all, each one of you is a winner. That’s why you’re here today. We know that when you back winners, they tend to spread their success around. They grow communities and economies. That’s why entrepreneurs and small to medium businesses are the backbone of virtually every economy in the world.
Secondly, young people are an enormous human resource in the world, and they’re not being supported enough.
Third, as I mentioned earlier, young people around the world have grown up on the internet and connective technology. We need to harness that potential so they can build businesses, distribute their works, network with others, identify funding sources, and succeed.
When we do that, we help to empower a new generation of problem solvers – which is critical, given the challenges we face around the world.
We have a choice. Do we stand by and let economic frustrations grow? Or do we find ways to support young people, so they can build and develop their ideas and grow their communities and their national economies, and their regional partnerships?
There is really only one answer.
One of the great – I would even say magical – effects of entrepreneurism is its power to ripple outwards.
When you create a new product or service, and then build a business around it, it isn’t just you that benefits. It’s the people you hire. They get a salary that will help their families. It’s also the customers who win from the service or the product or the social benefit you are offering. And when other entrepreneurs do similar things, whole communities begin to see the benefits and prosper.
Imagine what we can do when we empower more entrepreneurs like you to work, not only for yourselves but across this region. You’ll be able to identify common challenges that no economy can meet by itself, like lifting people out of poverty, combating climate change, or preventing the spread of disease. You can share your best ideas and your most inspired works. You can communicate in new ways with people across cultures and between faiths. In writing your own futures, you’ll write better ones for everybody.
President Obama was recently talking with entrepreneurs and he said: “I believe that entrepreneurs like you can make the world a better place, one idea at a time. You are going to be how change happens – one person, one step, one business, one city, one country at a time.”
As I look at you, I can see that’s true. And before I conclude, I want to share a quote from Thomas Edison. As you probably know, he was one of America’s most famous entrepreneurs, who invented so many things, from movie cameras to lightbulbs. He once said: “I haven’t failed. I just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”
Looking around this room, I see the kind of people who have already found a way that works for them. All you need is a little support. And here under this new partnership between the Taiwan Air Force Innovation Park and the MIT Media Lab, you are in good hands.
So, my sincere congratulations on being part of this fantastic program, and we all look forward to seeing what you can achieve – and how that will contribute to Taiwan’s future, and the world’s future, in the months and years to come. Thank you.
Showing posts with label BUSINESS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BUSINESS. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Sunday, May 4, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS TOURING GE FACILITY IN LUANDA, ANGOLA
FROM: THE STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks While Touring a GE Facility in Luanda
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Luanda, Angola
May 4, 2014
Well, Jay Ireland, thank you very much for a generous welcome here to General Electric in Luanda in the center of this extraordinary economic activity. I’m very excited to be here. I’m sorry that my wife is not here, because she was born in Mozambique and speaks – her first language is Portuguese. (Applause.) So I hear it around the house all the time – muito obrigadoand all that stuff. (Laughter.)
But it’s a privilege for me to be able to be here, and I want to thank Foreign Minister Chikoti for his welcome and for the opportunity to be able to meet the president tomorrow and have a good conversation about the bilateral relationship between the United States and Angola. I am particularly pleased to be here with other representatives of the oil and gas industry, a representative from Chevron, from ConocoPhilips, as well as from ExxonMobil – Esso, as you call it here. And I’m very grateful that the representative from the U.S.-Angola Chamber of Commerce is here, too.
As you’ve heard in the earlier introductions, I’m here with former United States Senator Russ Feingold, who is our – President Obama’s and my special envoy to the Great Lakes region and who is working to produce greater stability and peace in the region. President dos Santos and Angola have provided important leadership, and I want to thank you, Angola, for the leadership an the participation and the help to solve conflicts that have gone on for too long.
But as I mentioned a moment ago, we’re standing in a place of enormous economic activity with great promise for future economic growth and development. I am accompanied on this trip by the president and CEO of the EximBank[1], Elizabeth Littlefield, because the EximBank[2] is very much a partner with General Electric and very involved in helping to support economic development here in Angola and in other parts of Africa.
In fact, though EximBank[2] we have just provided a $600 million, just about a $600 million loan guarantee that will assist in the purchase of a Boeing 777 for Angola. This will grow the opportunity of, obviously, more ability to have business and more ability to have trade, and also for people to simply come to be able to engage in some of the exciting things that are happening in Angola. In addition, Exim[2] is providing another $300 million or so of additional economic investment here in Angola.
So let me just say quickly why being here is important today. Africa is changing. Eight of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world are here in Africa. There is enormous opportunity for the people of Africa, the people of Angola, to be able to gain in healthcare, in education, in jobs, in the quality of life. And I know the government is very focused on how to provide for increased standard of living for the people of the country. That comes from fair and reasonable trade agreements where everybody benefits, where there’s an ability to create jobs. When a Boeing airliner is bought from Boeing, it creates jobs in America, but it will also create jobs and opportunity here in Angola.
General Electric has recently sold four power turbines to Angola. This is for a project in Soyo. And this will help provide the power that then generates the ability for hospitals, for schools, for homes, for cities, for stores to be able to grow and prosper. So we believe there are great opportunities on which we can build where, most importantly, Angolans will benefit.
I just spoke with the representative for ConocoPhillips, who tells me and the representative for Chevron – who tell me about the several thousands of employees. ConocoPhilipps is newer here, but Chevron has about 3,500 workers employed. So more and more Angolans are being trained to take on more and more different kinds of important jobs.
The first lady of Angola was in Los Angeles a number of years ago, and she was talking with the executives there about a disease here in Angola. A lot of people thought you couldn’t do anything about it. But Chevron, which had been working here for many years, stepped up and they talked with the Texas Children’s Hospital and they got care to be able to come her to help cure this disease for children. More than 3,000 children’s lives have been saved
So this is not just about business. This is about building a relationship between two people, two countries, and building a future. And when I look out at the economic energy out here in the port in all these containers and these ships and the work that you’re doing, I am confident that Angola, working together as you are now, will be able to help contribute to an extraordinary journey in Africa as a whole, and we will provide greater opportunity to everybody.
Thank you for the privilege. Muito obrigado. (Applause.)
[1] Elizabeth Littlefield is the president and CEO of OPIC.
[2] OPIC
But it’s a privilege for me to be able to be here, and I want to thank Foreign Minister Chikoti for his welcome and for the opportunity to be able to meet the president tomorrow and have a good conversation about the bilateral relationship between the United States and Angola. I am particularly pleased to be here with other representatives of the oil and gas industry, a representative from Chevron, from ConocoPhilips, as well as from ExxonMobil – Esso, as you call it here. And I’m very grateful that the representative from the U.S.-Angola Chamber of Commerce is here, too.
As you’ve heard in the earlier introductions, I’m here with former United States Senator Russ Feingold, who is our – President Obama’s and my special envoy to the Great Lakes region and who is working to produce greater stability and peace in the region. President dos Santos and Angola have provided important leadership, and I want to thank you, Angola, for the leadership an the participation and the help to solve conflicts that have gone on for too long.
But as I mentioned a moment ago, we’re standing in a place of enormous economic activity with great promise for future economic growth and development. I am accompanied on this trip by the president and CEO of the EximBank[1], Elizabeth Littlefield, because the EximBank[2] is very much a partner with General Electric and very involved in helping to support economic development here in Angola and in other parts of Africa.
In fact, though EximBank[2] we have just provided a $600 million, just about a $600 million loan guarantee that will assist in the purchase of a Boeing 777 for Angola. This will grow the opportunity of, obviously, more ability to have business and more ability to have trade, and also for people to simply come to be able to engage in some of the exciting things that are happening in Angola. In addition, Exim[2] is providing another $300 million or so of additional economic investment here in Angola.
So let me just say quickly why being here is important today. Africa is changing. Eight of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world are here in Africa. There is enormous opportunity for the people of Africa, the people of Angola, to be able to gain in healthcare, in education, in jobs, in the quality of life. And I know the government is very focused on how to provide for increased standard of living for the people of the country. That comes from fair and reasonable trade agreements where everybody benefits, where there’s an ability to create jobs. When a Boeing airliner is bought from Boeing, it creates jobs in America, but it will also create jobs and opportunity here in Angola.
General Electric has recently sold four power turbines to Angola. This is for a project in Soyo. And this will help provide the power that then generates the ability for hospitals, for schools, for homes, for cities, for stores to be able to grow and prosper. So we believe there are great opportunities on which we can build where, most importantly, Angolans will benefit.
I just spoke with the representative for ConocoPhillips, who tells me and the representative for Chevron – who tell me about the several thousands of employees. ConocoPhilipps is newer here, but Chevron has about 3,500 workers employed. So more and more Angolans are being trained to take on more and more different kinds of important jobs.
The first lady of Angola was in Los Angeles a number of years ago, and she was talking with the executives there about a disease here in Angola. A lot of people thought you couldn’t do anything about it. But Chevron, which had been working here for many years, stepped up and they talked with the Texas Children’s Hospital and they got care to be able to come her to help cure this disease for children. More than 3,000 children’s lives have been saved
So this is not just about business. This is about building a relationship between two people, two countries, and building a future. And when I look out at the economic energy out here in the port in all these containers and these ships and the work that you’re doing, I am confident that Angola, working together as you are now, will be able to help contribute to an extraordinary journey in Africa as a whole, and we will provide greater opportunity to everybody.
Thank you for the privilege. Muito obrigado. (Applause.)
[1] Elizabeth Littlefield is the president and CEO of OPIC.
[2] OPIC
Saturday, April 26, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT EXPORT-IMPORT BANK ANNUAL CONFERENCE
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at the U.S. Export-Import Bank Annual Conference
Remarks
Omni Shoreham Hotel
Washington, DC
April 24, 2014
Thank you very, very much.　 Thank you.　 (Applause.)　 Thanks a lot.　 Thank you very much.　 Thank you, Fred.　 Thank you all very much.　 Thank you very, very much.　 Thank you.　 Thank you for a standing ovation.　 Winston Churchill said the only reason that people stand and give a standing ovation is they desperately need an excuse to shift their underwear.　 (Laughter.)　 So I know you all had a much more noble thought in mind.　 (Laughter.)
Anyway, I’m happy to be here.　 I’m very happy I didn’t nose out Susan Axelrod at any point in time, because if I had, I never would have become Secretary of State.　 (Laughter.)　 So congratulations to her for winning the small business entrepreneur.
I’m a little embarrassed, Fred.　 Thank you very much for a generous introduction.　 I appreciate it very much.　 I more appreciate our friendship, and I thank you for your support through my political life and now through my non-political life as Secretary.　 I’m greatly appreciative and I’m delighted to have an opportunity to share some thoughts with all of you here today.　
Fred’s ability to find out about my foray into the cookie business gives you some sense of Ex-Im’s deep expertise in matters of business and personal affairs.　 (Laughter.)　 I’ll have to make sure that’s as far as it goes.　 (Laughter.)　 Fred was actually very diplomatic in not telling you more about that escapade because he didn’t really mention that it was a triumph of hope and late-night wine that gave me this notion that I was going to open this business in Faneuil Hall Marketplace.　
I actually was having a wonderful dinner at one of the establishments in Faneuil Hall.　 I hope many of you have been there.　 And the friends I were with, and we did enjoy one bottle too many and we came out, and don’t know if you’ve ever had that late-night chocolate chip cookie craving – (laughter) – for the right reasons – (laughter) – but at any rate, I came out of there and I was somewhat bored as a private sector attorney for a few years, and I really did have this notion I wanted to do something in retail business.　 And there was this vacant space in Faneuil Hall, and I looked at it and I said, "God, it’d be really interesting to open this gourmet food store there."　
So literally, the next morning as a young lawyer, I found myself in Jim Rouse’s Baltimore’s office, the Rouse Company, who were the developers.　 And I negotiated this lease, and I wanted to have this sort of really great emporium of cookies that was then going to become a national effort and a flag store or whatever.　 And I was roundly brought to ground by the Rouse Company, who said, "Well, we don’t want any more fast food things here.　 We really just want a real gourmet food place."　 And I said, "Well, that’s exactly what I want to do."　 (Laughter.)　 And I gave him this explanation of what I was going to do, and then lo and behold, we have the lease and we started laying it out, and had these wonderful ovens that you can see the cookies progressing through them and dropping out on the other side.　
And everything was moving swimmingly – I had my Hobart mixer and my things.　 I’d never done anything like this before, and as you will all know in a moment when I tell you that we were one week from opening and I suddenly realized, "God, I need a cookie recipe."　 (Laughter.)　 So I went home and I took my – I had been a Toll House cookie baker since I was a kid.　 I love-love them; anybody who’s traveled with me will tell you.　 And so I started baking and baking and baking, and I learned the chemistry of food is the hardest thing in the world because as you get bigger, of course, it changes; it’s not an automatic progression.　 I learned that the hard way – many batches and hours later, days later.　
But we did it. 　We put together these incredible cookies with pure Lindt chocolate and honey and amazing, all natural ingredients.　 Everything was all natural.　 And within one year, I am proud to tell you, we won the Best of Boston for our cookies, for our macaroons, for our brownies, for our everything.　 And I only sold it when I had the idiotic notion of going into public life and running for lieutenant governor, and I didn’t want anybody accusing me of having sweetheart relationships, which I didn’t, or anything – but that doesn’t stop anybody in American politics from telling you you do.　 And so I sold it to my manager and I am proud to tell you that 20-whatever number of years later, it is still there and thriving in Faneuil Hall.　
And my dream had been to take it – I actually visited Harrods in London, and I had a place picked out, and I was going to put it there, and I was going to take it.　 And you know the old notion, you get 40 stores, 50 stores, and sell it for 10 times earnings, and that was the story.　 And of course, I didn’t, and here I am now a public servant and I’m not making anything, so – (laughter) – what can I tell you?　
But it’s a long way of telling you all – and this really helped me, I have to tell you – it really helped me in the United States Senate, where I did become chairman of the Small Business Committee.　 And I was on the Small Business Committee for 20-plus years.　 It taught me an enormous amount about the difficulties of being a small business, about having 35 or 40 part-time employees, getting your tax forms filled out, working on your withholding, dealing with the health department, getting your license, dealing with inspectors, getting – I mean it’s – you know it better than I do, but it really taught me about entrepreneurship and risk-taking.　 And if any of us need a reminder of how critical leadership and vision are to the success of any leadership effort, you can ask anybody at any one of these tables here.　
Every single one of you are living examples of that and you know how to do it, as does Fred Hochberg.　 And I’m delighted that Fred is leading the Ex-Im effort.　 He himself is a very skilled, capable businessperson.　 Not so long ago, Fred’s father gave him a tie bar – not a tie bar here, but a tie bar that – in your – where you hang all your ties.　 And he listed on it the following letters:　 Y-C-D-B-S-O-Y-A.　 And it was supposed to be an acronym.　 I don’t know how you say that – Ycdbsoya or something like that?　 But he lives by it, and here’s what it means:　 You can’t do business sitting on your ass.　 (Laughter.)　 It is a maxim that has driven him to take his family catalogue company global.　 It’s what made him an exceptional leader of the Small Business Administration, where I knew him and we were friendly, and at his own company.　 And today it is driving him to work to try to tie the world together with American exports.　
Now, I think every single one of you here would agree that this man has been anything but an idle executive.　 In five years on the job, he has helped to finance over $188 billion in U.S. exports and supported 1.2 million American jobs in the process.　 The Ex-Im Bank has been a driver of economic growth for much of the past century, especially during difficult times.　 And that’s been true, frankly, since Ex-Im’s beginning, when it was founded during the height of the Great Depression.　 It’s been true again in our recovery recently from our own great recession.　 The Ex-Im Bank has played an absolutely vital role in driving President Obama’s National Export Initiative forward.　
And I want you just to think about it:　 Only a few years ago, a few years removed from the greatest financial crisis in our lifetime – and believe me, I will never forget the Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, coming up and literally quaking in front of us in a Senate room, in the LBJ Room in the Capitol, pale and clearly vexed as he explained to us what was going to happen to Lehman Brothers and what was going to happen to the financial world if the United States Congress didn’t pass what was then called a bailout – not a bailout in the end, but a bailout – paid – paid the American taxpayer, I might add.　 And there was an irony in a member of one party coming to the members of another party to ask them to save them from themselves, and it happened.　
The reality is that since then, since that great recession which really put the financial system of this country and the world on the precipice, since then we have come back.　 People have forgotten what President Obama had to begin to do even before he was sworn in as we tried to navigate through that late fall of 2008.　 Since then, U.S. exports have hit an all-time high, a record $2.2 trillion.　 Today those exports support 11.3 million jobs and they account for 14 percent of the entire economy of the United States of America.　 Now, I’m happy to tell you that America is selling more goods and services abroad than at any time in our history.　 That’s a remarkable accomplishment.　 (Applause.)　
But let me make clear, that kind of recovery was by no means inevitable.　 It was the result of specific economic choices that we made at the federal level of our government.　 It was the result of strong partnerships between everyone at Ex-Im and with so many of you out there and others who aren’t here today.　 I want to thank the many business leaders in this room who have done so much to gain a bigger foothold for American companies overseas and to create opportunities for our workers here at home.　
And every American needs to understand none of this money is a giveaway.　 It’s not a gift program.　 It’s not a charity.　 It’s in our interest.　 We are not just promoting American businesses here at home; we’re promoting American values where they reach abroad.　 And we’re helping to strengthen countries that are on the brink, in some cases, of maybe being a failed or failing state.　
Now, I didn’t come here to talk about the road that we have traveled.　 It’s important, because you’ve got to know where you’ve been to know where you’re going.　 But I want to talk to you about something that’s more powerful than the past five years or even the past 80 years of Ex-Im’s existence.　 Everywhere I travel, everywhere I am privileged to travel as the Secretary of State of this great nation of ours, everywhere that I travel I see how the aspirations that make America great are moving global.　 I see how people around the world want the same kind of opportunities that have defined our country’s success, and the success, I might add, of many of our partners.　
When I was in Kyiv, walking the street down towards the Maidan recently, where the snipers had killed all of those protestors, I was struck by one man who came up to me, a Ukrainian, who said to me in pretty good English, said, "I just came back from Australia, and I was motivated by what I saw there.　 I want people here in Ukraine to be able to live the way they’re living in Australia."　 It was a personal witness to the possibilities of how life can be because of jobs and business and the ability to create a larger and larger middle class.
Wherever I go, whether it’s the Middle East or Asia or Africa, where I will be next week, I am engaged in efforts to ensure that the rise of the global middle class helps advance opportunity here at home.　 That’s what it’s about.
As I said at my confirmation hearing last year and as I tell our team at the State Department every single day:　 Economic policy is foreign policy, and foreign policy is economic policy.　 What we do to invest abroad, to build businesses, to help people be able to export and import – all of that is the way that you tap into the potential of people in the world.　 And that has never mattered more to our strength than it does right now.
When more than half of the world’s population is under the age of 30, when hundreds of millions of young people all over the world will enter the job market in the next decade, we honestly don’t have a moment to waste.
From Sao Paolo to Sana’a, all across the world young people are more connected than ever before.　 All they need to do is flip on their mobile device and they’re in touch instantaneously with everybody everywhere all the time.　 They can see the kind of opportunities that are emerging across the world.　 They know the challenge of one country, and they share those challenges in another country.　 They understand, particularly, the disparities in wealth and the disparities in opportunity.　 And they see that they’re just as real, and they experience them, believe me, every single day.　 What’s worse, they fear that it’s those disparities and not the opportunities that are going to define their future.
Remember, folks, Tunisia’s revolution was not born out of religious extremism or ideology.　 It was a fruit vendor who was frustrated with corruption and the inability to be able to sell his wares and being slapped around by a policeman, out of total frustration, out of not being able to touch that sense of independence and possibility, went and self-immolated in front of a police station.　 And that is what ignited a revolution that saw a 30-year dictator disappear and the country begin to kick off what we came to know as the Arab Awakening.
In Tahrir Square in Egypt, it was not the Muslim Brotherhood.　 It was no religion.　 It wasn’t Salifis, it wasn’t Sunni or Shia.　 It was young people in touch with each other, texting each other, googling, working their phones, that brought millions of people out there to throw off the yoke of corruption and open up a sense of possibility for the future.　 And then it happened again.　 It took another one because the government wasn’t responsive to their aspirations and their needs.　 (Applause.)
In Syria, where people are so upset and desperate about what is happening, that didn’t begin – that wasn’t, again, not a revolution in terms of religious backing or sectarianism.　 It was young people.　 The same thing that happened elsewhere, they went out in the street and said, "We want jobs.　 We want an education.　 We want a future."　 And when their parents went out with them after they were arrested the first time around, they were met with bullets and explosions, and the rest is history.
I’m telling you, as sure as I’m standing here, that this connectedness is not capable of being put back in the bottle by any politician anywhere.　 And in the end, everybody is going to be affected by these hopes and aspirations.　 It’s both a challenge, but it’s a huge, huge opportunity for business.　
When you look at the different markets that are out there, half of the world’s population living on $2 a day or less, almost – a huge proportion living on $1 a day or less, these are people who need schools, they need jobs, they need opportunity.　 We want these people to be able to reach for the brass ring and to be able to have their opportunity to be able to tap into that possibility.　
Just consider the opportunities on one continent, just look at Africa – home to eight of the ten fastest growing economies in the world and home to 1.1 billion people.　 I think they have to educate something like 150 million kids in the next ten years just to keep up – unbelievable challenge.　 But think about the size of the opportunity.　 It’s more than twice as large as the European market, and that’s the largest market in the world.　 And you look at what Ex-Im and your companies have helped to do for Europe and in other developed places, but we now see these possibilities exponentially in various parts of the world.　 And whether it’s in agriculture or infrastructure or energy – particularly, I might say, in energy.
The marketplace that created the great wealth of the United States of America in the 1990s when – which, incidentally, was the greatest wealth creating period of American history.　 A lot of people aren’t aware of that.　 We created more wealth in America in the 1990s, and every single quintile of American income earner saw their income go up.　 Why?　 Because it was a period of extraordinary growth as a result of the technology boom.
The technology boom represented a marketplace of $1 trillion, and there were one billion users.　 The energy market that I just mentioned is a $6 trillion market with four to five billion users today, and it will reach perhaps nine billion users within the next few years.　 Just think about that.　 That’s the mother of all markets.　 And the opportunity to be able to move on alternative, renewable, and different kinds of transportation, energy-saving, efficiency, building materials – run the list.　 It’s gigantic.　 And I want to see American businesses being the leading innovators and the leading providers in order to be able to be able to capture that market.
So I’ll tell you something.　 Whether it is in Africa or the Americas or in Asia, I see this enormous hunger out there not just for American products but for ideas and ideals that are uniquely American.　 Young people I met – I was in Kuala Lumpur last year in Malaysia at this incredible Global Entrepreneurship Summit – 15,000 young people, and I heard them screaming and yelling and chanting, and I said, "What is it?　 I’m at a rock concert or something."　 Not a rock concert; this was their energy and enthusiasm for entrepreneurism.　 They were excited, and every single one of them – they weren’t interested in becoming pop stars; they were interested in becoming the next Bill Gates or the next Steve Jobs.　 Believe me, they were thirsty for opportunity.　 And they’re all – they know what everybody else is doing everywhere else in the world.　 They’re talking to them.
So we could help create the climate for these young people to take an idea and make it into a business by harnessing their energy and ingenuity, and this, frankly, matters to us deeply.　 Because I firmly believe that the places where citizens have the freedom to be able to develop an idea and take it out there and even to try and make it reality and perhaps even fail – but to be their own boss and have that option, these are the societies that are most successful, they are the most cohesive, the least conflicted, the most peaceful.
That’s why not one of the political problems that we are working so hard to resolve today is – and not one of the solutions that we’re working hard to achieve is going to endure without greater economic exchange and development.　 I think it’s something we’ve seen over and over again, world over.　 Prosperity is a vital foundation for any kind of lasting, durable peace to take root.　 That happens to be one of the principal lessons that we have learned from Asia’s incredible rise.　 It’s a story that America proudly helped to write with our enduring commitment to security and economic exchange across the Pacific.
Even as I speak right now, it’s a story that we’re building on.　 The President of the United States, President Obama, is hard at work in Asia right now – leaving Japan, heading to the next stop, strengthening these ties for the future.　 And he’s driving forward negotiations on a high-standard trade agreement that can be the foundation for greater economic opportunity for decades to come.　 The Trans-Pacific Partnership, TPP – it’s a trade pact between the United States and 12 of our Pacific partners, and it would be the largest free trade agreement of its kind in the world.　 And what would it do?　 It would set high standards for trade and competition for 40 percent of the global economy.　 That matters to us, my friends.　 It matters to us that there are rules of the road and that everybody is playing by them, particularly for a nation that lives by and is proud of something like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.　
We’re competing in a voracious world marketwise, competitive, and you know that.　 So the chance for an agreement like this, where we raise the standards for everybody, where we create transparency and accountability and rules by which everybody lives, evens out the competitive marketplace and provides opportunity, because I don’t need to remind you this kind of opportunity doesn’t come often.　
And I’ve been part of these debates, and it doesn’t come easily.　 Remember the battle for free trade in the Senate?　 I fought that for 29 years.　 I’m proud to say that almost every single trade agreement I voted for, and it’s clear that these voices are going to be determining where we go as we go forward.　 The voices of opposition are going to grow louder, obviously, but the clamor for those rules of the road is precisely what President Obama is determined to try to achieve.　 He wants to break down the barriers to trade, open up the possibilities of opportunity, and that’s what he has been setting out to do since the day he came into office.　
From the free trade agreements that the President sealed with the Republic of Korea, Colombia, and Panama during the first term, the President, I think, has been very clear about the need to tame the worst forces of globalization and harness the best possibilities of globalization.　 He is continuing to lead the charge on the Trans-Pacific Partnership as well as our negotiations with Europeans, where we are negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a free trade agreement that would comprise another 40 percent of the global economy.
So as you gather here to think about Ex-Im and its future and the global marketplace, you don’t have to be a big company to do any of this.　 There are huge opportunities staring all of us in the face.　 And there is a lot at stake for us, both in these negotiations and in this moment of history.　
It really boils down to this:　 Will the global economy be defined by a race to the bottom – by the search for cheaper and cheaper labor, the lowest quality products, and the most lax, if any, regulations?　 Or will globalization be defined by a race to the top?　 Will the high standards that we set become the standard of the world?　 Today, as the largest market on earth, we have the power to determine what course the global economy is going to take.　
Because these agreements are so important for our economic future, I have made certain that we elevate the capacity of our economic team within the State Department.　 That’s why I have brought leaders with a proven track record of private sector experience, private sector accomplishment to the table.　 Leaders like Ambassador David Thorne, who’s here; like Ambassador Charlie Rivkin, who was our ambassador in France until a few months ago; our new Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, Cathy Novelli, who I stole from Apple; former fund manager Scott Nathan from Boston – they’ve all come to the table because they believe in helping to tame the worst forces in the marketplace and try to open up the best opportunities.　 It’s why I’ve challenged every Foreign Service officer – every one – to be an economic officer and make our prosperity agenda what I call an all-hands-on-deck job at the State Department.
That’s why we’ve partnered now with the Department of Commerce to bring foreign investment and private sector experience to our shores through SelectUSA, to encourage people to come and invest in the United States.　 And that’s why we are using the Direct Line program to connect American companies with opportunities to expand overseas by connecting them to economic insights of more than 15,000 ambassadors and diplomats around the world.　 That’s what we’re doing.　 We need you to tap into that.
That’s why, together, we’re not only committed to leveling the playing field through the TTIP and the TPP; we’re fighting corruption by advancing the Anti-Bribery Convention.
That’s why we’re working with the Ex-Im Bank to expand the President’s NEI agenda into the NEI-NEXT phase, promoting American exports based on their quality and potential for innovation rather than basing it on just how much they cost.
That’s why we we’re using public-private partnerships like the Palestinian Economic Initiative and the Partnership for New Beginnings to try to open up new possibilities for changing life on the ground for people who have seen little improvement in those lives over decades.　
And that’s why the President started the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship program, to bring the most – the insights of our most successful businesspeople to entrepreneurs across the world.
We’re doing all of this because in the world we live in today, there are far fewer borders to trade and talent and that means – and you know this better than anybody – our companies have much more competition.
In the Cold War, when I grew up, the United States could actually make a bad business decision or a bad policy decision.　 We were the sole economic power after World War II; everybody else was just crushed or undeveloped.　 And now today, it’s totally different.　 We’re not alone.　 There are other powerful economic entities on the planet, many of whom we helped make powerful through the Marshall Plan and other efforts of our values and ideals.　
But the result is there’s more competition.　 We welcome that.　 I know you welcome that, because American companies are the most innovative in the world, our workers are the most productive, and we can compete against anyone.　 We understand that.　 And particularly if we have a fair playing field, where there’s an absence of corruption and a plethora of opportunity.　 When American companies are the most innovative in the world and when our workers are the most productive, we can welcome competition.
But when other governments are out there aggressively backing their own business – aggressively under the table in some cases and above the table in others – we need to be out there too, pushing back.　 And we need to be partners with you and your businesses every step of the way in order to make sure that we are able to win in a battle that is fair and square.　 We need to be fighting for a rules-based system that levels the playing field.　 And when 95 percent of the world’s consumers – 95 percent of the world’s consumers – live outside of our market, that’s exactly what our companies and our people need us to do.
I have directed all ambassadors to promote American values but also be powerful advocates for our economic interests.　 We are going to make certain that each of our posts and missions around the world have both a political and an economic mission and they are joined at the hip.　 We need all the gears that drive economic growth driving in the same direction.
The first part of that effort is going to be to tell our economic story, our incredible economic story.　 And that’s a story that every one of you ought to be proud to go out and tell wherever we go.　 I know that wherever I touch down, whether it’s in Tunis or Tokyo or anywhere in the world, the words "Made in America" still mean something.　 They mean a lot.　 And that’s because our economy is envied as the most innovative economy in the world.　 It is also the most resilient economy in the world, as we have seen in the aftermath of the Great Recession.　 And that is because it continues to adapt and change to meet new challenges and because we have a greater free allocation of capital and movement of capital to ideas and more people willing to take a risk and possibly fail in order to find an idea that works.
So let’s make certain that we, going forward, improve on that formula.　 Let’s make certain that we build the partnerships that we need to create a shared prosperity in our country and around the world.　 The world, as you all know, keeps on turning, but if we refuse to stand still, which is in the American DNA, I am confident together with Ex-Im, with USAID, with World Bank, with IMF, with U.S. State Department, with all of the tools at our disposal, we are going to have an extraordinary impact and have extraordinary results here at home as a consequence of our economic engagement in this world, and most importantly as a consequence of American leadership with respect to the rules of the road.
Thank you, and keep on working.　 Thank you.　　 (Applause.)
Saturday, August 10, 2013
REMARKS BEFORE THE RUSSIA 2+2 MEETING
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks Before the Russia 2+2 Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu
Benjamin Franklin Room
Washington, DC
August 9, 2013
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome. We are delighted to welcome Ministers Lavrov and Shoygu, two Sergeys. We’re happy to have them here today, and I particularly want to welcome my old friend Chuck Hagel from the Defense Department.
The relationship between the United States and Russia is, needless to say, a very important relationship, and it is marked by both shared interests and at times colliding and conflicting interests. Now, I think we’re all very clear-eyed about that. Sergey Lavrov and I are old hockey players and we both know that diplomacy, like hockey, can sometimes result in the occasional collision. So we’re candid, very candid, about the areas in which we agree, but also the areas in which we disagree.
It’s no secret that we have experienced some challenging moments, and obviously not just over the Snowden case. We will discuss these differences today for certain. But this meeting remains important above and beyond the collisions and the moments of disagreement. It is important for us to find ways to make progress on missile defense, on other strategic issues, including Afghanistan, Iran, on North Korea, and Syria. And one thing I would emphasize is that on Syria, while Sergey and I do not always agree completely on responsibility for the bloodshed or on some of the ways forward, both of us and our countries agree that to avoid institutional collapse and descent into chaos, the ultimate answer is a negotiated political solution. And Geneva 2 conference is a step toward that solution. And I look forward to a very honest and robust discussion on all of these issues.
So we welcome the delegation from Russia here today, and we look forward to a very productive, hopefully, and full conversation.
Sergey.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (Via interpreter) Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, thank you for the warm hospitality extended to myself and Sergey Shoygu, Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. We attach great importance to cooperation in this format, +2. We haven’t met in a while and it was the right idea of the two presidents, Obama and Putin, when they met June 17th on the sidelines of the G-8 summit in Lough Erne when they decided to resume the format. And thus we meet here today in Washington.
We were preparing a number of documents, a package of documents for approval at the meeting between the two presidents. I am referring to the statement on the comprehensive development of our cooperation in the context of the 80th anniversary of resumption of diplomatic relationship between our two countries we are celebrating this year. I’m also referring to the statement aimed at giving momentum to the development of trade and economic cooperation between our two countries. By design, presidents were supposed to adopt the statement in the presence of captains of business of the two countries, because we want economy to be way more dominant in our relations.
We also prepared number of statements on enhancing cooperation in combating drug threat, cooperation on – further cooperation – agreement on further cooperation of nuclear threat reduction centers, cooperation agreement on research and nuclear sector. So I want to highlight that we have laid very solid foundation for our future work, and once we start building on the foundation, once these – the instruments are approved, we will be able to enhance cooperation in different sectors, and significantly.
Today, naturally, we will discuss international issues, global security. In particular, John mentioned missile defense. We have been discussing this issue for a long time. First, we start – since we started discussions of the New START Treaty, we always spoke about missile defense, and we note with satisfaction that in his April letter to President Putin, President Obama recognized the need to take into account all factors that impact strategic stability when talking about reductions. In Lough Erne, our two presidents discussed steps that were proposed by our U.S. partners to increase transparency in the sector. Ministers of Defense of the two countries were given instructions in that respect, and at least we in Russia were prepared to table our proposals to the two presidents, and we will do so once their summit meeting takes place.
As regards crisis settlement, Syria indeed is on top of our agenda. Our goal is the same. We need to start political process. We need to stage Geneva 2 conference. And in my view, the most important task for the Geneva 2 would be honor the commitment of all G-8 leaders made in Lough Erne when they called upon both government and opposition to join efforts to fight terrorists and force them away from Syria. And I’m convinced that in the current day reality, especially in light of the fact and assessments we’ve been hearing lately, this is indeed our top priority.
Of course, Afghanistan is also important, Iranian nuclear program is, Korean peninsula nuclear issue, and many other topics will be discussed today. We are united by shared responsibility. We must prevent destabilization of the global situation. We must prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. We need to ensure peaceful settlements of all crises by global community and avoid attempts to impose forced solutions irrespective of the situation. We’ve seen examples in the past, and we’ve seen that they are not working. Just like U.S., we want to see the situation get back to normal.
In Egypt, we want to see the national reconciliation process begin. We appreciate greatly efforts made by our U.S. colleagues and John Kerry personally. Especially, I’m referring to his efforts aimed at resumption of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.
So the agenda is very intense. Of course, we have disagreements. We’ll continue discussing matters on which we disagree calmly and candidly. I recall when I first met John in his capacity, his present-day capacity, and we were having this initial conversation, if I may put it that way, he told me that our countries have special responsibility, so we need to work as grown-ups. And this is what we do. And we hope that this will be reciprocal. Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Sergey, thank you very much. Appreciate that. And Secretary Hagel.
SECRETARY HAGEL: Secretary Kerry, thank you. And you and your colleagues here at the State Department, thank you for hosting today’s meeting. To our guests from the Russian Federation, welcome. We are very grateful for this opportunity to spend some time with Minister Lavrov and Minister Shoygu and your colleagues who have accompanied you to address some of the most pressing and important issues facing our countries, facing the world. Our interests, almost in every case noted, and more, are mutual interests. The world is complicated; it is combustible. To find solutions at a critical time in the world are not easy. But just as Minister Lavrov and Secretary Kerry have noted, to address these clearly, directly with each other, honestly, and to find the common denominators where we can build high ground to move forward to help resolve these great issues of our time.
We live in a very defining time in the world, and just as Minister Lavrov noted in his first conversation with Secretary Kerry, our countries have some responsibility to each other, obviously, but to the world in many respects. We are leading nations, and we must work with alliances and others as to how we find these solutions to these great challenges.
Some of the issues that we will deal with today have been noted; there are others. I particularly appreciated the opportunity to spend an hour with Minister Shoygu this morning and his colleagues as we addressed some of the more specific issues related to our defense ministries and our military-to-military cooperation. That meeting was a very positive meeting, which set the standard, I hope, for our meeting today.
I very much look forward to this meeting, and again thank Ministers Lavrov and Shoygu and their delegation for being here, and to you, Secretary Kerry, for hosting us.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Secretary Hagel.
Mr. Minister Shoygu.
DEFENSE MINISTER SHOYGU: (Via interpreter) Thank you, Your Excellency. Secretaries, indeed, today I had an hour-long meeting with my colleague, Secretary Hagel. We spoke about military-to-military cooperation. We spoke about military-political and military-technical cooperation as well.
I would like to thank colleagues for the wonderful arrangement of the meeting here in Washington and once again highlight that the 2+2 format is, in our view, very efficient and important.
Naturally, we couldn’t but discuss issues that are of concern to our Washington colleagues today and to us – Afghanistan, in the first place, and the forthcoming 2014 events. Of course, we spoke about Syria. We also discussed bilateral cooperation, ways to intensify our contacts. We agreed to step up cooperation between deputy ministers of the two countries. And what is no less important, we spoke about how we could give incentive to practical cooperation, such as exercise, military exercise, both naval or special forces exercise.
We also spoke about the need for more transparency. I would like to make sure that major events, such as exercise and others hosted by the Ministry of Defense in the Russian Federation, would like to invite U.S. colleagues and will do that timely. And of course we would like to invite not just military attaches, but also delegations from the U.S. capital, from Washington, to attend major events.
We started talking about missile defense, but missile defense should probably be discussed in this expanded format, the way we have gathered today. And I would like to again thank U.S. colleagues for organizing the meeting, and I hope it’s going to be as constructive as my meeting with Secretary Hagel was. Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. Again, we emphasize the importance of this conversation and in order to do it properly, we regrettably need to ask our friends in the press if they would now leave us so that we can have an opportunity to talk. Thank you very, very much. Appreciate it.
Remarks Before the Russia 2+2 Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu
Benjamin Franklin Room
Washington, DC
August 9, 2013
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome. We are delighted to welcome Ministers Lavrov and Shoygu, two Sergeys. We’re happy to have them here today, and I particularly want to welcome my old friend Chuck Hagel from the Defense Department.
The relationship between the United States and Russia is, needless to say, a very important relationship, and it is marked by both shared interests and at times colliding and conflicting interests. Now, I think we’re all very clear-eyed about that. Sergey Lavrov and I are old hockey players and we both know that diplomacy, like hockey, can sometimes result in the occasional collision. So we’re candid, very candid, about the areas in which we agree, but also the areas in which we disagree.
It’s no secret that we have experienced some challenging moments, and obviously not just over the Snowden case. We will discuss these differences today for certain. But this meeting remains important above and beyond the collisions and the moments of disagreement. It is important for us to find ways to make progress on missile defense, on other strategic issues, including Afghanistan, Iran, on North Korea, and Syria. And one thing I would emphasize is that on Syria, while Sergey and I do not always agree completely on responsibility for the bloodshed or on some of the ways forward, both of us and our countries agree that to avoid institutional collapse and descent into chaos, the ultimate answer is a negotiated political solution. And Geneva 2 conference is a step toward that solution. And I look forward to a very honest and robust discussion on all of these issues.
So we welcome the delegation from Russia here today, and we look forward to a very productive, hopefully, and full conversation.
Sergey.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (Via interpreter) Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, thank you for the warm hospitality extended to myself and Sergey Shoygu, Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. We attach great importance to cooperation in this format, +2. We haven’t met in a while and it was the right idea of the two presidents, Obama and Putin, when they met June 17th on the sidelines of the G-8 summit in Lough Erne when they decided to resume the format. And thus we meet here today in Washington.
We were preparing a number of documents, a package of documents for approval at the meeting between the two presidents. I am referring to the statement on the comprehensive development of our cooperation in the context of the 80th anniversary of resumption of diplomatic relationship between our two countries we are celebrating this year. I’m also referring to the statement aimed at giving momentum to the development of trade and economic cooperation between our two countries. By design, presidents were supposed to adopt the statement in the presence of captains of business of the two countries, because we want economy to be way more dominant in our relations.
We also prepared number of statements on enhancing cooperation in combating drug threat, cooperation on – further cooperation – agreement on further cooperation of nuclear threat reduction centers, cooperation agreement on research and nuclear sector. So I want to highlight that we have laid very solid foundation for our future work, and once we start building on the foundation, once these – the instruments are approved, we will be able to enhance cooperation in different sectors, and significantly.
Today, naturally, we will discuss international issues, global security. In particular, John mentioned missile defense. We have been discussing this issue for a long time. First, we start – since we started discussions of the New START Treaty, we always spoke about missile defense, and we note with satisfaction that in his April letter to President Putin, President Obama recognized the need to take into account all factors that impact strategic stability when talking about reductions. In Lough Erne, our two presidents discussed steps that were proposed by our U.S. partners to increase transparency in the sector. Ministers of Defense of the two countries were given instructions in that respect, and at least we in Russia were prepared to table our proposals to the two presidents, and we will do so once their summit meeting takes place.
As regards crisis settlement, Syria indeed is on top of our agenda. Our goal is the same. We need to start political process. We need to stage Geneva 2 conference. And in my view, the most important task for the Geneva 2 would be honor the commitment of all G-8 leaders made in Lough Erne when they called upon both government and opposition to join efforts to fight terrorists and force them away from Syria. And I’m convinced that in the current day reality, especially in light of the fact and assessments we’ve been hearing lately, this is indeed our top priority.
Of course, Afghanistan is also important, Iranian nuclear program is, Korean peninsula nuclear issue, and many other topics will be discussed today. We are united by shared responsibility. We must prevent destabilization of the global situation. We must prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. We need to ensure peaceful settlements of all crises by global community and avoid attempts to impose forced solutions irrespective of the situation. We’ve seen examples in the past, and we’ve seen that they are not working. Just like U.S., we want to see the situation get back to normal.
In Egypt, we want to see the national reconciliation process begin. We appreciate greatly efforts made by our U.S. colleagues and John Kerry personally. Especially, I’m referring to his efforts aimed at resumption of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.
So the agenda is very intense. Of course, we have disagreements. We’ll continue discussing matters on which we disagree calmly and candidly. I recall when I first met John in his capacity, his present-day capacity, and we were having this initial conversation, if I may put it that way, he told me that our countries have special responsibility, so we need to work as grown-ups. And this is what we do. And we hope that this will be reciprocal. Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Sergey, thank you very much. Appreciate that. And Secretary Hagel.
SECRETARY HAGEL: Secretary Kerry, thank you. And you and your colleagues here at the State Department, thank you for hosting today’s meeting. To our guests from the Russian Federation, welcome. We are very grateful for this opportunity to spend some time with Minister Lavrov and Minister Shoygu and your colleagues who have accompanied you to address some of the most pressing and important issues facing our countries, facing the world. Our interests, almost in every case noted, and more, are mutual interests. The world is complicated; it is combustible. To find solutions at a critical time in the world are not easy. But just as Minister Lavrov and Secretary Kerry have noted, to address these clearly, directly with each other, honestly, and to find the common denominators where we can build high ground to move forward to help resolve these great issues of our time.
We live in a very defining time in the world, and just as Minister Lavrov noted in his first conversation with Secretary Kerry, our countries have some responsibility to each other, obviously, but to the world in many respects. We are leading nations, and we must work with alliances and others as to how we find these solutions to these great challenges.
Some of the issues that we will deal with today have been noted; there are others. I particularly appreciated the opportunity to spend an hour with Minister Shoygu this morning and his colleagues as we addressed some of the more specific issues related to our defense ministries and our military-to-military cooperation. That meeting was a very positive meeting, which set the standard, I hope, for our meeting today.
I very much look forward to this meeting, and again thank Ministers Lavrov and Shoygu and their delegation for being here, and to you, Secretary Kerry, for hosting us.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Secretary Hagel.
Mr. Minister Shoygu.
DEFENSE MINISTER SHOYGU: (Via interpreter) Thank you, Your Excellency. Secretaries, indeed, today I had an hour-long meeting with my colleague, Secretary Hagel. We spoke about military-to-military cooperation. We spoke about military-political and military-technical cooperation as well.
I would like to thank colleagues for the wonderful arrangement of the meeting here in Washington and once again highlight that the 2+2 format is, in our view, very efficient and important.
Naturally, we couldn’t but discuss issues that are of concern to our Washington colleagues today and to us – Afghanistan, in the first place, and the forthcoming 2014 events. Of course, we spoke about Syria. We also discussed bilateral cooperation, ways to intensify our contacts. We agreed to step up cooperation between deputy ministers of the two countries. And what is no less important, we spoke about how we could give incentive to practical cooperation, such as exercise, military exercise, both naval or special forces exercise.
We also spoke about the need for more transparency. I would like to make sure that major events, such as exercise and others hosted by the Ministry of Defense in the Russian Federation, would like to invite U.S. colleagues and will do that timely. And of course we would like to invite not just military attaches, but also delegations from the U.S. capital, from Washington, to attend major events.
We started talking about missile defense, but missile defense should probably be discussed in this expanded format, the way we have gathered today. And I would like to again thank U.S. colleagues for organizing the meeting, and I hope it’s going to be as constructive as my meeting with Secretary Hagel was. Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. Again, we emphasize the importance of this conversation and in order to do it properly, we regrettably need to ask our friends in the press if they would now leave us so that we can have an opportunity to talk. Thank you very, very much. Appreciate it.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
NGX NOW PERMITTED TO PROVIDE MEMBERS IN U.S. WITH DIRECT ACCESS TO TRADING SYSTEM
FROM: U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
CFTC Issues Order of Registration for the Natural Gas Exchange Inc.
Washington, DC — On May 2, 2013, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an Order of Registration to the Natural Gas Exchange Inc. (NGX), a foreign board of trade located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Under the Order, NGX is permitted to provide its identified members or other participants located in the U.S. with direct access to its electronic order entry and trade matching system. The Order is the first issued by the Commission pursuant to Part 48 of the Commission’s regulations, which provide that such an Order may be issued to a foreign board of trade that possesses, among other things, the attributes of an established, organized exchange and that is subject to continued oversight by a regulator that provides comprehensive supervision and regulation that is comparable to the supervision and regulation exercised by the Commission. NGX submitted an application for registration that included, among other things, representations that NGX and its regulatory authority, the Alberta Securities Commission, satisfy the requirements for registration set forth in regulation 48.7. Commission staff, in reviewing the application, found that NGX has demonstrated its ability to comply with the requirements of the Act and applicable Commission regulations thereunder. Accordingly, the Commission granted NGX an Order of Registration to permit NGX to provide direct access, subject to the terms and conditions specified in the Order, to its identified members or other participants located in the U.S. The terms and conditions applicable to the Order include, among others, that NGX shall comply with the applicable conditions of registration specified in Commission regulation 48.8 and any additional conditions that the Commission deems necessary and may impose, and that NGX shall fulfill each of the representations it made in support of the application for registration. NGX has operated in the U.S. as an Exempt Commercial Market (ECM), under then current section 2(h)(5) of the Commodity Exchange Act, since November 5, 2002, and has been registered as a derivatives clearing organization since 2008.
CFTC Issues Order of Registration for the Natural Gas Exchange Inc.
Washington, DC — On May 2, 2013, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an Order of Registration to the Natural Gas Exchange Inc. (NGX), a foreign board of trade located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Under the Order, NGX is permitted to provide its identified members or other participants located in the U.S. with direct access to its electronic order entry and trade matching system. The Order is the first issued by the Commission pursuant to Part 48 of the Commission’s regulations, which provide that such an Order may be issued to a foreign board of trade that possesses, among other things, the attributes of an established, organized exchange and that is subject to continued oversight by a regulator that provides comprehensive supervision and regulation that is comparable to the supervision and regulation exercised by the Commission. NGX submitted an application for registration that included, among other things, representations that NGX and its regulatory authority, the Alberta Securities Commission, satisfy the requirements for registration set forth in regulation 48.7. Commission staff, in reviewing the application, found that NGX has demonstrated its ability to comply with the requirements of the Act and applicable Commission regulations thereunder. Accordingly, the Commission granted NGX an Order of Registration to permit NGX to provide direct access, subject to the terms and conditions specified in the Order, to its identified members or other participants located in the U.S. The terms and conditions applicable to the Order include, among others, that NGX shall comply with the applicable conditions of registration specified in Commission regulation 48.8 and any additional conditions that the Commission deems necessary and may impose, and that NGX shall fulfill each of the representations it made in support of the application for registration. NGX has operated in the U.S. as an Exempt Commercial Market (ECM), under then current section 2(h)(5) of the Commodity Exchange Act, since November 5, 2002, and has been registered as a derivatives clearing organization since 2008.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE'S RENARKS AT APCAC U.S.-ASIA BUSINESS SUMMIT
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| After The Tsunami. Credit: U.S. Navy. |
The APCAC U.S.-Asia Business Summit
Remarks
Thomas Nides
Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources
Tokyo, Japan
March 1, 2012
Good morning everyone – what a pleasure to be among so many friends and distinguished colleagues today.
Now, some of you might have heard me say before that I wear two hats. I’m here as a diplomat and as a recovering businessman. I am also fast becoming an expert Japan traveler. This is my third trip to Tokyo in the last year, and I am thrilled to be back. I'd like to thank the ACCJ President Michael Alfant, the ACCJ Board of Governors, and the entire APCAC Board for inviting me to speak to you.
We are meeting just days before the one-year anniversary of the terrible earthquake and tsunami that forever changed the lives of millions of people. Japan’s recovery over the last year is an inspiration to the world. What could have been a crippling disaster instead became a remarkable testament to the spirit and resilience of the Japanese people.
The world pulled together to support Japan in those days and months after March 11. Many of you contributed -- American corporations donated nearly $300 million for relief and recovery efforts. American and Japanese rescue and relief forces worked side-by-side, starting within hours of the tsunami.
Of course, Japan has done the same for us. In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Japanese people were among the first to respond. In the terrible days following 9/11, Japanese volunteers worked at Ground Zero day-in and day-out. When it matters most, our countries step up for each other. That’s what friends do for each other.
Now, last week, Secretary Clinton hosted the first-ever Global Business Conference at the State Department in Washington. We brought together senior U.S. officials with more than 160 business leaders from over 120 countries. My friend and yours Charles Lake was one of the participants, and I’m glad that he’s here today as well.
The Global Business Conference had one goal: to figure out how the United States can make it easier for companies to do business internationally and create American jobs. Today we want to continue that discussion with you. I am joined by a panel of my colleagues -- our chief diplomats from all across the Asia-Pacific. They made the trip because they know how important economics is to our relationship with Asia, and how important the economic relationship between Asia and the United States is to the world.
So as we begin this discussion, I’d like to make four key points. First, how the United States is sharpening our focus on economics as a foreign policy tool. Second, how business and economics are particularly important to our foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region. Third, how the United States is doing a great deal to deepen our economic cooperation with the region. And finally, how we can and must do more, and how we need businesses to be part of that effort.
So let’s take these points one by one. First, our focus on business and economics as a tool for diplomacy – a policy we call economic statecraft. America's global leadership and our economic strength are fundamentally a package deal. We must do more to build up both.
We live in an era when the size of a country’s economy is every bit as important to exercising global leadership as the size of its military. Our corporations often reach more people in foreign countries than our embassies. Meanwhile, the American people are hungry for jobs that depend on finding new customers and opening new markets beyond our borders.
So we have made economic statecraft a priority for every one of our missions around the globe. And I’ll tell you, we will use every tool we have – including diplomacy – to promote global prosperity and create American jobs.
Which leads me to my second point: economic statecraft is particularly important in here Asia. That is one reason why, as you can see, we have such a strong showing on this panel.
Many Asian countries have long recognized the links between economics and foreign policy. In many ways, the business of Asia is business. Asian economies and populations are growing rapidly. I don’t need to tell you that much of future global economic growth will be centered in the Asia-Pacific. So it is imperative that we do this right. The decisions Asia’s emerging economies make together with the United States will help govern a rules-based system that will guide us through the 21st century. If we get the rules right, all of our countries will prosper together.
Economics is at the heart of America’s strategy in Asia. We are committed to exercising our role as a resident Pacific power—not just militarily and diplomatically but economically.
No one knows this better than the Asia-Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce. You have helped tend American business in Asia for more than 40 years. And your work has paid off. American Chambers of Commerce in Asia today oversee more than $400 billion dollars in trade volume and more than $200 billion in foreign direct investment. And yet, we can and we should be trading more.
The futures of the United States and Asia are linked. We are proud of the role the United States has played in helping fuel Asia's growing prosperity. In 2011, the United States exported nearly $900 billion in goods to APEC countries. That’s more exports than we sent to any other group of regional economies.
But there is no guarantee that the future will continue to be marked by success and growth. Our relationships need constant tending.
So, the third area I want to discuss is how we are enhancing our economic cooperation with the region. We have made some key gains, and we are committed to doing even more to get this right. Last year the President signed the landmark Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. This deal will eliminate tariffs on 95 percent of American exports to the Republic of Korea. It will add more than $10 billion to the U.S. economy and grow Korea’s economy by 6 percent.
We want to bring these sorts of benefits to the broader region as well. So, we are working with our partners to build a high quality Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. Done right, the TPP could set the stage for decades of higher living standards and deeper friendships across the region. That’s the world we want. And that’s the world I think you want too.
As we build this future, we should be clear. We are not just fighting for American businesses – although that is certainly a priority. America’s economic renewal depends on the strength of the global economy. And the global economy depends on the strength of the American economy. And both—let me add—depend on a strong, vibrant Japanese economy and a full recovery. So, we are striving to build a global, rules-based system in which all businesses stand a chance to succeed. Secretary Clinton laid out our vision at the APEC meetings in Washington almost a year ago. Economic competition should be open, free, transparent, and fair.
What do we mean by open? We mean a system where any person, in any part of the world, can access markets. If you have a good idea for a new product or service, nothing should prevent you from sharing it with the world.
What do we mean by free? We mean that every company can move their goods, money, and ideas around the globe without facing unnecessary roadblocks.
By transparent, we mean that regulations are developed in the open, with everyone’s input, and everyone knows what the rules are.
And, by fair, we mean that those rules apply equally to everyone. Fairness makes sure that people are willing to compete in the first place.
These four simple words cover an incredibly complex economic agenda. And in some of these areas, we face great challenges. For example, we must do a better job of protecting intellectual property. We can disagree about how to best enforce intellectual property laws, but we cannot afford to ignore them. Our 21st century economies rely on innovation and invention to drive economic growth and job creation. We must do all we can to protect that.
So, to my last point: we can and must do much more in the coming years to advance this economic statecraft agenda, and we need the business community to be our full partner. We need to sit down together, in forums like this one and the State Department Global Business Conference, or at gatherings like APEC. Building sustainable global growth and creating jobs at home is a joint venture. The private sector innovates and allocates capital, and the government opens doors to new markets and ensures that the system is fair. Given the economic hardship Americans and our international friends are suffering today, we must bring the partnership between business and government to the next level.
We are relying on you to think big, to generate new ideas, to open doors with jobs and capital. And the government will be right beside you – knocking down barriers, connecting partners, protecting everyone’s interests. Together, we can build a system of healthy economic competition that will be sustainable and profitable for many years to come.
I hope that we come away from these next two days with a newfound sense of purpose and possibility. Starting now, we should all be asking: What can the government and the State Department do to improve opportunities for business in the Asia-Pacific region? How can we do better? How can businesses support our national interests in tying the United States and Asia closer together?
If we are successful in finding more ways to work together to build an open, free, transparent, and fair economic system, the future of U.S.-Asia cooperation is unlimited. The impact on our global economic output will be enormous. And the benefit to people’s lives and opportunities will see no limits.
Thank you.
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