January 16, 2015 - Montreal, Quebec
Check Against Delivery
Good morning.
Thank you Samantha [Burton] for those kind words.
And thank you to Engineers Without Borders for inviting me to speak today.
It is my privilege to welcome you to Montreal for this national conference, where the next three days will see you devote time and talent to international development.
Engineers Without Borders’ goal is to incubate systemic innovations that have the potential to transform systems and accelerate development.
This is an ambitious goal, but it is more than ever reachable.
Because at no time in history has the world been so able to do more to bring us closer to a world that is without poverty.
Without hunger.
And without the health challenges that keep so many from capitalizing on their full potential.
Indeed, creativity—and advances in scientific knowledge and discovery—are slowly bridging the gap between the world we have and the one we want.
I agree with the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Muhammad Yunus, who said:
“Unprecedented technological capabilities combined with unlimited human creativity have given us tremendous power to take on intractable problems like poverty, unemployment, disease, and environmental degradation. Our challenge is to translate this extraordinary potential into meaningful change.”
In short, if the power of technology and human ingenuity is practically limitless, the main challenge is to turn potential into concrete and significant change.
By meeting as you are here, or by launching an innovation laboratory, you are contributing to meeting this challenge.
And I believe that my department can play a bigger role to help us meet it too.
Our knowledge of development challenges is undeniable, considering our vast experience in the field.
But I believe we lack the capacity to fully integrate science and technology into how we do development.
That is why today I am pleased to announce that our government is creating an Expert Working Group that will do just that.
After considering the many aspects of the role of science and technology in foreign assistance, the mandate of the Working Group will be to provide advice on reforms that would make DFTAD a world leader in the effective use of S&T in that field.
The working group will examine Canada’s development activities that have benefited, or could benefit, from access to strong science and technology capabilities in Canada or elsewhere.
It will provide recommendations on how DFATD should strengthen its capabilities in Ottawa and in the field to recognize and take advantage of opportunities for effectively integrating S&T considerations within development programs.
It will also identify opportunities to support the building of S&T capacity in developing countries.
I also expect the Working Group to provide recommendations on how DFATD could provide leadership in improving interagency coordination of activities relevant to S&T in development.
Canada can do better in the application of science and technology in development.
Given our expertise both in S&T and development, we must be a world leader in this area.
It is time we connect the dots.
Hopefully, this Working Group will show us the way to do it in the most effective manner.
As many of you know, international assistance is not what it used to be. Indeed, a great deal has changed since Canada began officially pursuing international development in the late 1960s.
Today, developing countries are increasingly driving global growth, and using economic development, trade, and investment to fuel their own progress.
The importance of development assistance has decreased compared to other resources, and foreign direct investment to the developing world now outpaces assistance by a five to one margin.
Remittances are roughly three times the size of official development assistance.
In addition, the number of actors involved in development work has grown exponentially.
Development has now become a global endeavour in which partners from a cross-section of areas work together to meet the needs of the world’s poor.
At the core of our efforts lies a commitment to new partnerships and innovation.
It's a commitment to smart development that evolves with the rapidly changing development landscape.
This means working in new ways.
And finding new partners.
Like the private sector.
Lacking access to finance is one of the biggest challenges facing private firms in developing countries.
Other donor countries have acted to optimize private investment in development, with development finance mechanisms, or DFMs, being their most visible forms of support.
DFMs offer customized tools—such as loans, equity, guarantees and technical assistance—to respond to the specific financing challenges faced by companies operating in developing countries.
As you know, Canada is the only G-7 country without one, and I strongly believe that establishing a DFM would fill an important gap in our development toolkit.
The main objective of this new mechanism would be to enhance Canada’s efforts to reduce poverty through investment partnerships with the private sector.
However, it would also benefit Canada by providing help to Canadian firms to close deals and find new opportunities in difficult markets.
I realize I’m preaching to the choir.
I know that Engineers without Borders has done an amazing job raising awareness of this gap, as did the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
This shows once again the key role that you play in development, and testifies to the efficiency of your approach.
Development is a field of work whose constant evolution demands that we remain open to ideas and approaches that exceed the traditional boundaries that we are accustomed to.
Progress comes when we dare to innovate.
To seek new solutions.
And when we acknowledge that what we think is impossible today might actually be possible tomorrow.
This room is full of good ideas, from bright minds and eminent thinkers, all of whom ultimately want the same thing—and that is the elimination of global poverty.
No matter where you come from, your unique perspective on the many challenges of development will help fuel discussion and debate over the next few days.
So I encourage you to be bold.
To think big.
So your creativity may once again disrupt the systems that allow poverty to persist.
Thank you.
