Embassy of the United States

Ambassador Speeches

Ambassador Martinez’s Remarks At the Presentation of Her Letter of Appointment to COMESA

Your Excellency, Secretary General Mwencha,

Thank you for receiving me to present my credentials as Secretary of State Rice’s special representative to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. I am honored to be here today with you, and with Assistant Secretary General Ngwenya, Assistant Secretary General El-Husseiny, and all your COMESA colleagues.

Excellency,

The United States values its expanding relationship with COMESA and its member states. The U.S. government and COMESA share many important objectives, chief among them the promotion of regional and international trade and investment.

There is perhaps no more powerful engine for development than trade. President Bush remarked recently that African countries have recognized that “…through trade, they can develop a more hopeful society rather than through aid. ... When you open up your market to entrepreneurs and small businesses, it helps spread wealth. And that's, after all, what we're trying to achieve."

We also share an appreciation for the critical role the private sector plays in economic growth and development. Private sector entrepreneurs and business representatives in member countries can provide valuable and practical feedback on many of COMESA’s programs and activities. COMESA also benefits from its cooperation with the Corporate Council on Africa, which represents a number of U.S. companies active in trade and investment on the continent.

Finally, we have in common a focus on getting results. Our partnership has yielded tangible benefits. Since 1998, assistance provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s regional office in Nairobi has helped COMESA to build capacity in a number of areas, including trade development, telecommunications harmonization, institutional strengthening, and program management.

The AGOA Linkages program increased awareness of the African Growth and Opportunity Act among stakeholders in AGOA-eligible member states, identified 120 export-ready companies and generated over $5 million in additional exports under AGOA.

The Trade and Investment Framework Agreement signed by COMESA and the United States Trade Representative in 2001 generated regular dialogue on bilateral trade and AGOA, infrastructure, trade capacity building and ongoing WTO negotiations.

Other U.S. regional programs in Africa, such as the Regional Agricultural Trade Expansion Support (RATES) program for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the Global Competitiveness Hub programs in Nairobi and Gaborone, offer many COMESA member states additional opportunities to improve their capacity to trade and compete in regional and international markets.

Excellency,

U.S. support for COMESA and to countries in Eastern and Southern Africa is part of a growing emphasis the U.S. government has placed on Africa in recent years. In 2005, President Bush committed the United States to double assistance to Africa by 2010. He announced five initiatives designed to directly improve the lives of all Africans, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable.

These include programs to address hunger and humanitarian emergencies; improve education, especially for girls; reduce the incidence of malaria deaths; support women’s justice and empowerment; and enhance the continent’s global competitiveness.

This final new initiative, the African Global Competitiveness Initiative, may provide new ways to expand U.S. engagement with COMESA, for example, through possible cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build sanitary and phytosanitary capacity in member states.

Excellency,

I look forward to working with you and your colleagues to pursue additional opportunities to increase trade, investment, and development in COMESA countries.

Before I close, I also want to acknowledge and express gratitude for your outstanding leadership of COMESA. My U.S. government colleagues and I appreciate your positive and proactive engagement, which has contributed significantly to the success of our partnership.

Your Excellency, Thank you.