Ottawa, Ontario April 7, 2005 (CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY) Good afternoon. It is a great pleasure for me to be able to join you here today. You are an impressive and diverse audience. I know some of you are from the private sector. Others work for NGOs. Others are academics or researchers. Despite the diversity, I know we are all here today because we share a common belief. We know that the poor in developing countries are among the most hard-working people in the world. Many images come to mind for me. Women farmers toiling in arid fields... young salesmen competing fiercely for success in crowded urban markets... entrepreneurs struggling through red tape to find the financing and regulatory support needed to make their business ideas take shape. It is not a hand out that these people want, but hand up. What we are here today to do is determine how we can best help them help themselves. With roughly one fifth of the world's citizens living in abject poverty on less than $1 a day, we cannot afford to overlook the opportunities that private sector development can offer for economic growth and poverty reduction. We know that a dynamic private sector generates meaningful jobs, increases productivity, develops a tax base, and creates local suppliers who can meet people's needs right in the community. We also know that millions of poor entrepreneurs and consumers are largely ignored by the formal private sector. Yet experience shows that when given the opportunity to access capital, new markets, and opportunities, they have responded with remarkable results. In hindsight, microcredit sounds obvious. But think of the first time it was suggested. Let's offer loans to the poorest people, particularly women, who have never been offered a loan before. And by the way, they have virtually no income and very little power. It must have sounded like a losing proposition. But we know, of course, what an astounding success it has been. It demonstrates what can happen when we bring development and the private sector together. As many of you know, I am currently engaged with my colleagues - the Ministers of Defence, Foreign Affairs, and Trade - in developing a new and exciting direction for Canada's international policy. We will be increasing our support in countries and sectors where we know we have the experience, expertise, and resources to foster sustainable development. One of the areas where we will focus our efforts is private sector development. So what does that mean for Canada's aid program? To begin, it means selecting specific interventions and areas of focus where there is a need in the developing world and where Canada can take a leadership role. Canada is going to focus on three areas where we have demonstrated experience and expertise. Helping to build an enabling environment is the first. This involves creating the right conditions for the private sector to flourish, including: access to markets, reducing the cost and complexity of doing business - for example registration and regulation, encouraging the rule of law, and supporting indigenous business associations that can identify and advocate for the most relevant institutional changes in their country to support private sector development. Promoting entrepreneurship is the second. We will work to become a leader in helping to foster innovative ways to link poor entrepreneurs to markets. We will encourage collaboration between the business and development communities to create win-win partnerships built upon the strengths and knowledge of each. And we will support strategies to provide seamless access to financing for all parts of developing country private sectors - from microfinance to small and medium finance, to leasing, to complex debt and equity offerings. Finally, Canada will help developing countries integrate into the global trading system and promote fair economic opportunities for entrepreneurs. We will assist our developing country partners to implement trade agreements - for example through focused technical cooperation and experience-sharing - and help entrepreneurs to supply goods and services to local, regional, and international markets. In addition, we will assist countries to strengthen their public procurement systems. Clear areas of focus will help us to have the greatest possible impact. We want to build on success and invest in a portfolio of initiatives. We will replicate, and scale-up those that are successful. And we will provide "smart" money. We can best assist entrepreneurs in the developing world by ensuring access to sound advice and know-how. This also means working together in a coordinated, coherent manner. To help us to do so, we will complete a comprehensive stocktaking exercise within 12 months that will determine core Canadian competencies, as well as the strengths of other donors and multilateral organizations in private sector development. During this same period, we will review the balance between bilateral, multilateral, and partnership programming to determine the instruments and institutions that can best deliver private sector development programming. We will create an Advisory Board of leading experts from developed and developing countries to provide advice on our programming in this area. These experts will assist CIDA with its strategic approach and in establishing benchmarks for success. It will meet periodically to review progress made. We want to encourage better coordination and set-up a global exchange of ideas and lessons learned in this critical area. That is why Canada will host a once-a-year conference for the leading thinkers and practitioners in this field to discuss what works, what doesn't work, and what each of the key players is focusing on. The first conference will be held early next year. I am happy to announce that we are following up on our commitment to focus our support for private sector development with a series of well-placed investments. We will support six initiatives totalling over $25 million in Africa, the Americas, and Asia to promote sustainable development and prosperity. In Mozambique, Oxfam Canada will strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations to promote entrepreneurship among smallholder farmers and to help agricultural entrepreneurs connect to local and national markets. We will be a founding contributor to a Regional Trust Fund that will assist Sub-Saharan African country governments in attracting and retaining foreign direct investment. We will work with CARE Canada and Canadian universities, including the Schulich School of Business at York University, to mobilize Canadian MBA students to apply their expertise to pro-poor business initiatives in developing countries. In Cambodia, we will help to improve land registration and titling systems that benefit land poor and landless farmers to encourage investment in rural enterprises and agricultural infrastructure. In tsunami-affected Banda Aceh, we will help women entrepreneurs access financing and other resources needed to support reconstruction. And in Latin America and the Caribbean, we will help to provide trade-related technical assistance that meets the needs of small economies. This conference is an important opportunity to share expertise and to explore ways in which we can all better foster sustainable, pro-poor economic growth. I look forward to hearing the results of your discussions. As you know, Prime Minister Martin has a very real interest in private sector development, and I will share your results with him as well. He understands, as all of you do, that when the private sector functions well and equitably, everyone benefits. And that will make all the difference. Thank you.
