A preview of the unpublished book A CIVILIZATION WITHOUT A VISION WILL PERISH: AN INDEPENDENT SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH by David Willis. CHAPTER 1: INDIFFERENCE (Part 37). The following is a continuation of the keynote address given by James D. Wolfensohn, President, The World Bank Group at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in Washington, D.C. on March 6, 2002, with the title “A Partnership for Development and Peace”.
The New Partnership for African Development
And it is developing countries that are leading the way. Listen to what African leaders are saying in the New Partnership for African Development: “Across the continent Africans declare that we will no longer allow ourselves to be conditioned by circumstance. We will determine our own destiny and call on the rest of the world to complement our efforts.” These leaders, and leaders and peoples like them through much of the developing world, are recognizing what must be done to allow their countries to develop.
Improvements in policies and governance
They are committing to good governance, to improving the investment climate, to investing in their people. And the marked improvement in policies in much of the developing world since the 1980s shows that they are serious and having an effect. In some countries, these improvements in policies and governance have generated growth, led by the private sector, which involves poor people. By building a more favorable environment for productivity and development, they are creating jobs, encouraging growth in domestic savings and investment, while also spurring increases in foreign direct investment flows.
There is also a need for leadership in the developed world
They are not sitting back waiting for development to be done to them. They are helping to finance their own development; and they recognize the crucial importance of building human capacity within their countries. But they cannot do it alone. I have spoken of one side of the new partnership, the leadership in the developing world. But there is also a need for leadership in the developed world, which must grasp the opportunity presented in Monterrey to take the next important step to create that more stable and peaceful world.
What should the rich countries do? First
What is it that leaders in rich countries should do? First they must assist developing countries to build their own capacity in government, in business, and in their communities at large. And in doing so, they must listen to the expressed needs of developing countries so that they help to build individual programs that are relevant and can make a real difference. This is not pro-forma work. This is work that requires real commitment and passion.
What should the rich countries do? Second
Second, they must move forward on trade openness, recognizing that without market access poor countries cannot fulfill their potential no matter how well they improve their policies. The European Union’s lead on the Everything But Arms Agreement and the United States’s lead on the African Growth and Opportunities Act should be followed by other rich countries now – and the benefits extended to all low-income countries to end the trade barriers that harm the poorest nations and poorest workers. This action does not need to wait on WTO agreement.
Lowering of trade barriers will not cost the rich countries anything in the aggregate
There will be powerful political lobbies ranged against any such action. But it is the task of political leaders to remind electorates that lowering of trade barriers will not cost the rich countries anything in the aggregate; they gain from freer trade in these areas, far in excess of any short-term costs of adjustment. There is no sacrifice required, no excuse for failing to take action that would leave all countries better off.