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Alan Larson, Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs Press conference, Vilnius, Lithuania, April 6, 2000 |
Under Secretary Larson: Good afternoon. We have just completed about 2 1/2 hours of very productive discussions on economic cooperation between Lithuania and the United States. Secretary Albright asked me to visit this region to reinforce the United States' very strong commitment to cooperation with and support for Lithuania in its drive to strengthen its economy and become a member in a range of global and Euro-Atlantic institutions. We had the chance to talk about Lithuania's very important efforts to become a member of the World Trade Organization and the beginning of its accession discussions with the European Union. We also had the chance to talk about a range of economic cooperation issues including the importance of foreign direct investment as a force that contributes very strongly to economic development. We know first-hand the benefits of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States because we actually are the largest recipient of FDI in the world. We think that foreign investment can also make a very important contribution in Lithuania not only as a source of additional financing for Lithuania's economic development but also as a source of new technology, new management techniques, and new forms of corporate governance. I am very grateful to my counterparts from the government for all of the hard work they put into the preparations for this very useful meeting, and we look forward to continuing this process and dialogue at a scheduled meeting between the United States and all three Baltic countries that will take place in June. [Question asking for more details about the decommissioning of the nuclear power plant (Ignalina) and about private investment.] Under Secretary Larson: First of all, on the issue of decommissioning, we had a very broad discussion on a range of energy and electric power issues. I received a very impressive briefing from the Lithuanian side about the plans for a regional energy and electric power system that would among other things create a regional grid among the Baltic countries and provide for a deregulated separation of electric power production from transmission and distribution. We welcome the commitment of the Lithuanian Government to decommission Reactor Number One by 2005; we see it as a very important issue of public safety. We encouraged an approach toward this whole issue that would be comprehensive -- comprehensive in the sense that it would address in a very realistic way the cost of decommissioning the plant but also addresss the range of options for improving electricity efficiency within the region and for developing new sources of electric power supply. In that regard we think that it is important to look for the full participation of the international financial institutions and the private sector. On your second question, about private investment, our conversation was less about specific projects and more about the contribution that a good policy environment for private sector investment can make to a country's economic development. It is remarkable, for example, that in Poland foreign investment was under $1 billion a year in 1990 but by 1998 that increased to over $6 billion a year. It is clear that the very rapidly increasing levels of foreign investment in Poland have made a really powerful contribution to Poland's economic growth and its progress in transforming its country over the last 8 years. We think there is comparable potential for rapid growth in private investment and growth in the economy here in Lithuania. [Question about the quality of the investment environment in Lithuania taking as an example the experience of the Williams company.] Under Secretary Larson: Well, one of the things that we talked about is that in a globalizing world economy every country including the U.S. constantly has to make sure that its environment is as good as possible for foreign investment. One of the specific things that we talked about is the fact that in today's world so many of the very important industries are knowledge-intensive industries. Knowledge-intensive industries such as information technology and pharmaceuticals all require a very high degree of protection of intellectual property and that is something that the Lithuanian Government will be addressing as it makes its makes its preparations for accession to the WTO. As for the specific issue of Williams, I think this is a company that has made a commitment to Lithuania for the long-term, notwithstanding what you described as a "rough ride." I think there is every reason to believe that this will be one of the success stories in the future that we all will be proud of and which will help convince other big companies to make comparable commitments to Lithuania. [Question asking for more details on financial support for Ignalina.] Under Secretary Larson: We didn't talk about figures at today's meeting, and I did say that I thought that some of the most valuable assistance that we could provide and that we have been providing already over the course of the years is in the area of nuclear safety and technical assistance. We believe that it is going to be important for the neighbors of Lithuania who share a very deep concern about safety to be full participants in helping Lithuania deal with the cost of decommissioning. I also think it is going to be important, for this exercise to succeed, that it be approached in a very comprehensive way, more than just a donor's conference approach but also an approach in which a very comprehensive plan for meeting Lithuania's energy and electricity requirements for the future is put forward. Thank you very much. [end of document]
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