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Wednesday, November 13, 1996
The Middle East North Africa Economic Conference Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I take great pleasure in welcoming you in Egypt. A country of history, where our people have lived and built and sown the seeds of a great civilization for seventy centuries. I welcome you among us to share our mission, of progress, of prosperity, not for us alone but for the peoples of the region, for our future and theirs. In the course of human history, there comes a time when - at a fork in the road - we have to make a choice. There comes a time when the stare of history is upon us. With our past on our shoulder and our future in our hands, we can avert our eyes. We can choose to let our past be the guide, and our future the victim of generations gone. We can also stare back and choose to mold our destiny to the image of our children and their children. In 1991, in Madrid, we chose this road. A difficult path, one fraught with danger, setbacks, disappointments, sorrows, but one where our destiny is truly ours, where a thousand years from today, when the names will have gone, the faces forgotten, the cities changed, one thing will remain. A shining legacy that on that day in Madrid, in 1994 in Casablanca, in 1995 in Amman, in 1996 in Cairo, we took a stand and we dared to look beyond the horizon. In this land of Egypt, of seven millennia, we can dare to grab our future, for we can see that those who did, over five thousand years ago, still stand tall among us. This is a task for a rare breed of men and women, with courage, with passion, and a single-minded determination to bring forth a precious legacy of peace for generations to come. Egypt has chosen this path. It has chosen to lead on this journey, to help the helpless, guide the lost, aid those in distress, and mediate when misunderstandings cloud our goals. Foremost, Egypt has chosen never, ever to give up. For it is our destiny that we should show the way, and we shall not shrink from it. Today we are witnessing the rebirth of the Middle East again. A rebirth that will generate a new dynamic in this region. One of prosperity; abundant, sustained and shared prosperity. We are here to declare that the countries of this region, have in common a deep yearning for a better day for our children. I am convinced that this and this alone makes this region one that deserves prosperity as an integral part of the global economy, an active member of the community of nations. Ladies and Gentlemen, Today, our countries are part of a global structure. There are no longer island economies, isolated blocs and closed systems. The principles of globalization govern the order of our planet. All economic and financial decisions are made on a planetary scale. Direct investments are global, capital flows react to global variables, production and distribution respond to global trends. This is the charter of the twenty first century. It is a charter that knows no exceptions and bears few deviations. One that evolves day by day, based on principles of free trade, free markets, and the free flow of capital and investments worldwide. A charter we all are drafting, one that does not exclude or marginalize, coerce or impose. A charter that does justice to all nations, a common means to a common end. Globalization has imposed on all those countries that must belong to the world economy an order of strict conduct, rules by which economies address each other, in financial flows, in trade, in services, in investments, and for which the international community has built, with great care, the international and regional institutions we have today. These rules govern also the balances that are at the heart of each of our economies. Budget deficits are governed by global parameters, inflation rates, interest rates, exchange rates, obey constraints that are imposed on all our countries by global flows. Our laws and institutions of economic management, must conform to principles of global efficiency. This is the discipline of prosperity in the global economy of today. A discipline that I believe our region needs to observe, for which it needs to build the institutions, draft the laws, train the people, and most of all find the governments that will abide by, for themselves and for their neighbours. This process has started in the Middle East, it needs to be sustained and it needs the clarity of vision that will make it sustainable for years to come. Egypt has found its path of equilibrium, a path to prosperity. One, we have reached at the end of a fifteen year journey of reform and one that puts us at the threshold of greater welfare for all Egyptians. A welfare we will share with all those who share our values and join our ranks. This year, Egypt has joined the global economy. It will abide by its rules, it will share in its prosperity. From now on our economy, can begin every year with all its financial equilibria in place. Last June the national budget deficit was at 1.3 % of GDP. It is projected to come down for this fiscal year to 1.2%. Inflation is at some 7.5% now and projected at about 6% for the coming year. GDP has resumed its growth. Last fiscal year it stood at over 4.5%, this year we hope to reach 5%. We enter the twenty first century with a balance of payments that is viable and a foreign debt that is no more than 30% of GDP. Our country is open to the world. All capital flows enjoy absolute freedom of movement in and out of our economy. Free markets are now the sole arbiter for the allocation of resources in Egypt. Variables such as interest rates and the exchange rate reflect now the true strength of our economy unaided and unrestrained. The private sector plays an essential role in our economy, sets the pace, generates employment, and is seeking the rightful place that is Egypt's in the region and indeed in the world financial community. Our policies for this stage of our economic program aim at one fundamental goal: growth. A growth that touches the lives of all Egyptians, one that is sustainable, one that reflects the true potential of this country. To this end our policies rely on three main dimensions of action: increased investments, greater openness to the global economy, and the promotion of productivity growth. Increased investment means foremost increased foreign investments. These will come through accelerated privatization, faster deregulation and an investment climate that will serve and cater to investors both foreign and Egyptian. It will come through higher savings for which we continue to reform our financial institutions in banking, insurance, social security and capital markets. Greater openness to the outside world comes through the elimination of trade barriers, gradually exposing the Egyptian economy to the world at large. It will come through the development and implementation of a National Program of Export Promotion that will provide the markets tot allow the Egyptian economy to grow. Growth in Egypt of the twenty first century lies in exports. Greater openness to the outside world is the key to improving the efficiency of resource use in our economy. It is the key to creating more jobs, better jobs for all Egyptians. Our industry will compete with the rest of the world and will receive the support that will help it do so. The third dimension of policy action revolves around productivity growth. We have established a number of institutions that will promote technology transfers, labor training and upgrading of the existing capital stock. The policies that attract foreign investment and effect trade liberalization will bring wider markets and technology transfers, both of which will increase productivity in the Egyptian economy. These policies invest the reforms of the past fifteen years for the greater welfare of all Egyptians. They come, however, as only part of the edifice of modern Egypt. An edifice that does not change the rules of the economy but one that reforms the governance of our country redefining the principles of public service, public participation and economic security. These changes commit our reforms to be, sustainable and irreversible. A new role for the Government has arisen from our transformation. Government is the arbiter competing claims to our resources, more caring to the needs of the less privileged. It is the provider of better education, better health care. It is the intermediary between savers and investors, consumers and producers, through markets that are free and an economy that is growing. This is an ethic of public service that our institutions are learning. An ethic that rejects obstructive bureaucracy, the burdensome regulation and the obscure logic of intrusion. There is a new governance in Egypt, one based on transparency in the formulation of policies, in the institutions that manage them, and in the data that evaluate them. Our economy is one of participation, with the private sector playing an important role on the path to prosperity. It is one of clarity in our goals and their means. It is one of consensus borne of a national dialogue. Our policies must remain predictable, our institutions reliable and our laws and regulations fair and enforceable. These are the guarantees of our success. These are the daily tasks of our government. Ladies and Gentlemen, Egypt is not alone in this rebirth. Country after country in our region has opted for sound economic and financial policies, flexible institutions, market-based management, and a vital role for the private sector in economic growth. Day after day, we progress towards greater harmonization of our economic and financial policies. Day after day, our economies move closer to their goals and closer together. Today, more than ever before, we can look for a core of countries, in this region that share their values, their vision, their policies, and are willing to share their future. With time, this core will expand, attract others and gradually become the power source for the well-being of the peoples of this region. Time is pressing, however. Large economic blocs have become the dominant feature of the world economic landscape of the twenty first century. The European Union, the North American Free Trade Agreement, MERCOSUR, APEC, ASEAN, are all benchmarks for the years to come. Our place in the global economy lies in our cohesion, in the harmony of our policies and our economies, but most of all in our shared hopes for prosperity. Regional infrastructure projects in power, energy, transport, communication and environment await our integration. Greater regional trade should be within reach. Better coordination among our policies should magnify their positive impact on our peoples. We are part of this planet. We must bear our share for its welfare, we must also share in its prosperity. Our economies have grown closer, in greater harmony with each other. Yet this is not close enough, for as long as comprehensive peace on all tracks is not firmly and irreversibly established among us, we will not reap the full benefits of our economic integration. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Middle East and North Africa has everything for a prosperous future. It also has the seeds of a future of misery and turmoil. We have chosen prosperity. Help us build it. The only common enemies we have, Muslim, Christian and Jew alike, is poverty, ignorance, intolerance and a short-sighted grasp of our future. Few things are worthy of an unconditional commitment. A peace that is founded on justice and liberty deserves such a commitment, a prosperity that is shared and sustainable deserves such a commitment . We are reaching today for our future. Together let us not lose sight of it. Together let us build it, build a peace that is just, build a prosperity that is for all. For it shall not be said, centuries from today, that our countries had peace within their grasp and squandered it. Thank you. |
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