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| World Bank President highlights role of business | |
04 July 2005
Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank, speaking to leaders of business, civil society and governments at the official UN / Nepad pre G8 conference Bending the Arc, reaffirmed his commitment to "working with all our partners, the G8 development agencies, governments, civil society and the private sector, to help meet the development goals and to meet the expectations for the people of Africa." Acknowledging the recent and welcome progress on aid and debt, Mr. Wolfowitz stressed the importance of trade in meeting the Millennium Development Goals in Africa: "We need more action too on trade. Africa’s share of global trade has dropped from 3.5% in 1970 to around 1.4% today, amounting to annual revenue losses that are a multiple of annual aid flows. Trade is absolutely vital to the increased growth that Africa needs to reach the MDGs. So further action in opening markets and reducing subsidies is an essential part of the equation." He continued: "Another part of the equation is something that is not getting nearly enough attention in the African context: the private sector. And yet, at the end of the day, this might be the most important component of all to finance the growth to create the jobs and to create the investment in education and health that the people of Africa need." Mr. Wolfowitz rightly outlined that the private sector implies much more than multinational corporations and that the role of SMEs in creating a thriving entrepreneurial environment is crucial: "we must do more to help create the right opportunities for inspirational people and I am certain that given the expertise of participants in the discussions today, there will be many good ideas in this area". "African leaders increasingly are stepping up to their responsibility to combat corruption and to build institutions of governance that provide transparency and accountability. And the developed countries need to do more to support those efforts including fighting sources of corruption in the developed world. Working together, we can create an environment where individuals can realise their true potential." Delegates at the Bending the Arc summit include Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu (Chief Executive, New Partnership for Africa’s Development); Barbara Stocking (Director, Oxfam GB); Robert Davies (CEO, International Business Leaders Forum); Ambassador John Maresca (President, Business Humanitarian Forum), Bjorn Stigson (World Business Council on Sustainable Development); Hon. Professor Peter Anyang Nyongo (Minister of Planning and National Development, Kenya); Dr Klaus Toepfer (Executive Director, UNEP); Peter Woicke (former Executive Vice President, International Finance Corporation); and Hon Trevor Manuel (Minister of Finance, South Africa). |
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