March 01, 2004
United Nations Headquarters, New York

SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER

Check against delivery

In the World Bank’s Voices of the Poor series, there is a plaintive cry from a woman in Brazil: I’d like to quote: “The rich person is the one who says, ‘I am going to do it’ and does it. The poor, in contrast, do not fulfill their wishes or develop their capacities.”

The Goal of the Report of the Commission on the Private Sector and Development, why we are here today – is to prove the second part of that statement wrong.

Our goal is to prove that the poor can fulfill their wishes, they can develop their capacities. And that we can do something to help to make that proof tangible, to make it a reality.

However, to do this, we also have to prove the first part of her cry right, the part where she says that the rich person is the one who says that we are going to do it – and then does it.

In this room, we are the rich and powerful – certainly in the eyes of the 4 billion people who earn less than $5 a day.

Secretary-General Annan, you recently said: “We all have an interest in making sure that business prospers everywhere – especially in the poorest countries where, contrary to popular belief, the problem is not business but the absence of business.”

This is what we in the Commission have underlined. That the absence of a vibrant, domestic private sector in developing countries is a crucial part of the problem of the growing gap between the rich and the poor.

Of course, the primary responsibility for achieving growth and equitable development lies with developing countries. They have to create the conditions to encourage and support private sector development.

But as well, all of us in this room have our role to play – whether as government leaders, business leaders and CEOs, representatives of international organizations, donor agencies or civil society.

All of us need to assess what we can contribute to accelerate sustainable and equitable development and poverty alleviation.

More specifically: All of us need to ask what we can do to put the ambitions of local enterprise – at the heart of development strategy.

For instance, the business community can help to show the way. By developing linkages with the small-scale entrepreneurs of the developing world; by helping them to go forward through mentoring, and, technological assistance.

All of us can work on partnerships between rich countries and poorer ones; between multinational companies and local ones; between the private sector and the public sector, both domestically and internationally.

What can individual countries do?

Let me speak for Canada.

I am pleased to have with me Canada’s Minister for International Cooperation, the Honourable Aileen Carroll, who will speak about the work of the Canadian International Development Agency in supporting private sector development.

Today, along with her, I would like to announce two new initiatives that directly support the recommended actions of the Commission’s Report on Unleashing Entrepreneurship.

A key finding of the Report is the need for an effective brokerage infrastructure that promotes links between developed and developing country private sectors.

We need to make transactions between them more feasible by reducing the overall risks and costs that often serve as impediments to investment and action.

Establishment of a brokerage function would: support small and medium enterprise growth; harness the power of private sectors; and increase access to market information, technology and financing in developing countries.

It would strengthen linkages between private actors – including entrepreneurs, businesses, institutions, civil society and non-government organizations in developed and developing countries.

Moreover, this brokerage function would help provide access for small and medium-sized enterprises to national and international markets, linking international investors and partners with local companies and entrepreneurs.

It would also facilitate the deployment of new technologies.

Thus, I would like to announce today that Canada and the UN Development Program will convene an action-oriented taskforce of experts – from both public and private constituencies – to examine the proposed brokerage function and to recommend an organization structure to develop and deliver the brokerage role.

By facilitating two-way business contacts and relationship-building between small and medium enterprises in developed and developing countries, this will decrease the cost of doing business in unfamiliar markets and increase market access.

It will also reduce the cost of growing business operations in existing developing country markets.

The second Canadian initiative which I would like to announce today is the creation of a new Local Enterprise Investment Centre in Bangladesh.

This Centre will promote investment partnerships spawned by local entrepreneurs and enterprises.

It will offer experience in financing, leasing, guarantees, equity investment and other services aimed at readying local small and medium enterprises as effective investment partners and positioning them for future growth.

It will also prepare them to link with larger domestic or multinational companies.

Finally, we will examine whether the Local Enterprise Investment Centre can be used as a model for other countries which Canada has identified as priorities for development assistance.

Mr. Secretary-General, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Today, the members of the Commission have produced not only a report – but a set of prescriptions and recommended actions.

We want to kick-start a process to unleash the entrepreneurial potential that lies untapped in so many people living in poverty or very difficult circumstances in developing countries.

More than that: we want to ignite a flame that will kindle the hopes of that woman in Brazil – and the billions of others in the world – to have their wishes fulfilled and their capacities developed.

So that they can be freed of the denial of their humanity that poverty inflicts. So that they can gain the dignity, self-respect and livelihood that is their right as fellow humans.

Today, with the Commission’s Report and with our two initiatives, we hope we have made the first of many steps that will be taken by leaders – in the private sector and in the public sector – towards the enlightened partnerships that will make small business growth a reality.

And, in so doing, make our dream of ending poverty just that little bit closer.