01 June 2009
Clinton Says Quality of Lives Defines Western Hemisphere Progress
Washington — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says that defining economic progress in the Western Hemisphere is more than profit margins and the rise and fall of a nation’s gross domestic product. Prosperity is measured in the quality of peoples’ lives and livelihoods.
Clinton spoke in San Salvador, El Salvador, on May 31 at the Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas Initiative about the U.S. commitment to re-launch the economic initiative begun by the Bush administration at the United Nations in September 2008. She was to attend the inauguration of El Salvador’s president-elect, Mauricio Funes, on June 1. The secretary is also expected to attend the 39th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), which begins June 2 in Honduras.
“To achieve the shared prosperity we seek, we must integrate our commitment to democracy and open markets with an equal commitment to social inclusion,” Clinton said. “The global financial crisis has reinforced how closely our economies are linked.”
Pathways to Prosperity, which was launched to help the Americas benefit from expanded trade, reaches across nations and free trade partners to regional organizations, development banks and other major trading nations in the Western Hemisphere. It began at a meeting of 12 nations in Panama in December 2008. At the time, the United States had bilateral free trade agreements with 10 nations in the region and was a signatory to the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement.
“Pathways to Prosperity can and will help spread the benefits of economic engagement and trade to women, rural farmers and small businesses, Afro-descendants, indigenous communities, and others too often left on the sidelines of progress,” Clinton said.
The secretary said the Pathways-participating nations currently represent 34 percent of the world’s gross domestic product — the sum of all goods and services produced.
“In Honduras, the Food for Progress program found new markets for the potatoes grown by 1,400 small farmers. As a result, the farmers’ sales doubled, and they increased their average annual income from less than $800 to $2,100,” Clinton said.
In Peru, Clinton said, the Micro and Small Enterprise Facilitation Program has helped more than 80 local governments implement new regulations for business creation, which has cut business registration time by 80 percent and reduced costs for business startup by more than half.
The next step for expanded opportunity will mean expanding beyond the current focus and current membership, Clinton said. “Pathways should be open to working with new partners, including other nations and subregional banks, that share our commitment to open markets and greater social inclusion,” she said.
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