Ambassador Aurelia E. Brazeal's Address to the Ethio-American Business Community Forum at the Centennial Celebration of the Ethiopian American Commercial Relations

December 16, 2003 

Thank you for including me in this celebration of 100 years of interaction between the United States and Ethiopia. This has been an interaction at the diplomatic level, at the person-to-person level, at the level of education, of health, of technology, of military, of intellectual exchange, of civil rights and human rights, of immigration, of mutuality, of respect, of sustained dialogue building a common vision.

What of that common vision? Where does it stand today? From where did it bring us in the past? How is it relevant to this audience on this night? Let me talk about the past briefly because from it we draw strength for current actions and future deeds. As some members of the audience can attest, Americans have contributed greatly to Ethiopia’s civilization and development. Many of you might have had a Peace Corps teacher, someone who opened wider a window on the world and peoples, different from your own world. Some of you might be able to recite the names of African Americans who came to contribute their minds, work and lives to Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s history is replete with examples of Ethiopia’s leaders reaching out to the best minds of other nations, not just the United States, to provide counsel, knowledge, management and leadership in times of great challenge and change. My point is that Ethiopia’s civilization is an amalgam of many peoples and that has brought strength, resilience, and some evidence of a tradition of openness.

So too has been America’s experience. We are a land of immigrants – some who came willingly and others as slaves. We interacted with Native Americans already on our shores. Our history is replete with mistakes made as peoples came from all corners of the world. My point is not to dissect those mistakes tonight. My point tonight is that America and Ethiopia both have drawn counsel, knowledge, management and leadership from the best minds of other nations in times of great challenge and change. Today, the United States is benefiting from the energy, work ethic, and resilience of Ethiopian-Americans. America today continues its tradition of openness. Let me take a moment to especially emphasize how we have fostered the development of the private sector in the U.S. Devoted and intelligent men and women have worked for generations in the private sector to improve the well-being of the American people and diminish poverty. They directed their energies and talents toward concrete objectives consistent with the ideals they professed. Government provided the regulatory framework, the laws, and the incentives for the private sector. The private sector operated within that framework to the betterment of American society as a whole.

These background points help me focus on the common vision that I mentioned earlier. What is this vision and how does it relate to the private sector and government in Ethiopia? In 2003 in Ethiopia, our vision must be one of moving beyond - beyond poverty and beyond crises. To do this we must all commit ourselves to the hard fought goal of development - sustainable, poverty reducing, private sector-led development. It is time to be specific about what that will entail. On the government's part they have made a commitment to a plan - the Sustainable Development Poverty Reduction Plan. They have requested assistance to achieve the goals set forth in this plan - our assistance as a donor and your assistance, or better yet, your collaboration as the engine to drive this plan. The agreement with the United States and other donors includes policy reforms that the Government must undertake to allow the private sector to operate more effectively in Ethiopia: competition policy reform, financial sector reform, privatization acceleration, urban land reform, telecommunications sector reform, and trade policy reform. These are based on a common vision and are results oriented. We have agreed to objectives, targets, and promises in the areas, including progress in accession to WTO; increasing access to telephone and internet services in the telecommunications sector; and in increasing competition in the financial area by modernizing the commercial banking sector, introducing alternative financing mechanisms, including leasing, that are less collateral driven, and productively using the excess liquidity in the banking sector to promote growth.

These elements of the vision are promises to keep. The United States supports this vision, but being Americans, we also support faster implementation, the addition of more concrete outputs, strengthening indicators of reform, and emphasizing the cross-cutting nature of private sector reforms to progress in other policy areas for poverty reduction. Let me give just four examples of why we want faster reform:

Since my arrival about one year ago a large U.S. software company considered Addis Ababa as a potential headquarters site for its entire African operations because of Addis' central location, excellent airline network throughout Africa, pleasant climate, and low crime rate. However, their global sales force needs mobile phones that work in every country - and ETC does not offer inbound or outbound interoperability. Another U.S. software company wanted to locate operations in Addis because of the availability of English-speaking programmers and other workers. However, the lack of reliable access to high-speed internet prevented them from seriously advancing their plans.

A U.S. broomcorn importer said that the quality and price in Ethiopia is the best in the world, but the cumbersome banking rules (letters of credit) and especially the constant minor changes required on the forms make Ethiopia, he said: "the most difficult country to buy products from. My final example is that a U.S. agricultural investor was considering farming investment and after a fast and pleasant start with the Ethiopian Investment Authority was offered inferior land by the local authorities. These lost opportunities are why the U.S. wants to accelerate reforms so Ethiopian and American private sector investors and entrepreneurs can help push economic growth.

Since we have had the Chinese Premier in Addis this week, together with Chinese businesspeople and other government officials, let me now paraphrase Chinese Premier Wen. He visited the United States and Canada before coming to Ethiopia. Last week, in the United States, Premier Wen said that the Chinese people have learned that they could not make economic progress until they opened their economy. Let me repeat that point – China did not make the economic progress it has now until it opened its economy. If we substitute Ethiopia for China, then we could say that Ethiopia will not make the economic progress it wants until it opens its economy.

I know that there still is in Ethiopia the mind set that says Ethiopia should not open its economy – because it cannot compete, because it wants to protect domestic business, because it is not a pillar of a particular brand of thought, because foreigners will buy up the country. Well, if they do, they can’t take it with them. We learned this lesson in America and the Chinese seem to be learning it as well. But by opening the economy, Ethiopia could pick the best from the world – the best business practices, the best technology, the best minds, the best progress made to benefit its people, the best this, the best that. You get the idea. Government can and should provide the laws, the regulatory framework, the standards, the incentives and the disincentives. Because most of us are committed to doing something we thought was good, we tend to ignore criticisms. But by so doing, are we not also ignoring the real need – which was, is and will continue to be jobs for all people?

No amount of foreign assistance can help a country develop. It is the private sector, which creates the jobs. It is the private sector that creates economic growth and progress.

So I've spoken about the role of the government and what it has committed to do, but you are the engine. You make development happen. A robust private sector is crucial to achieving food security, poverty reduction and economic prosperity in Ethiopia. The role of the private sector is mobilizing investment, creating jobs, making markets work, and introducing best practices that will enable Ethiopia to turn its comparative advantage into a competitive position in multiple markets. Strong private sector leadership and engagement is needed to enable small holder farmers and pastoralists to access input and output markets; forge new business partnerships; and create viable off-farm employment opportunities, which contribute to Ethiopia's economic development. We look forward to strengthening our partnership with Ethiopia's private sector to accelerate economic growth in Ethiopia, and be forewarned, you will also be called upon to apply your skills to confront other daunting challenges, in such areas as education, HIV/AIDS, health services, and environmental management.

I have felt that I could make these points tonight because after 100 years of relations, there is no issue that Ethiopia and America cannot discuss. We have been fortunate in our relationship for it has included ordinary people like myself expressing their own experiences. It has included serious continued dialogue until trust develops. It has included dialogue aimed at solving public problems. It has been a conversation that did not presume that any side had all the answers. It has been a conversation with a continued commitment to work together at the local, regional, national and international levels until solutions are created that can stand the test of time. It has been a dialogue that has the capacity to deliberate and collaborate again and again. Welcome to that dialogue. Welcome to American and Ethiopian collaboration to address the issues of our time. I feel fortunate to serve in Ethiopia at this special time. Thank you.