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AMBASSADOR EGAN: Ladies and Gentlemen: My name is Wes Egan. I am your American Ambassador in Jordan. (applause). It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to Amman, to the Amman Summit, and to the courtesy and the great hospitality at the Marriott Hotel which has been very good to the American Delegation over the last twenty four hours since we arrived. It is a great pleasure to welcome you. It is an even greater pleasure to welcome the Honorable Warren Christopher, Secretary of State and the Honorable Ron Brown, Secretary of Commerce who have joined for a bit this evening. I believe Secretary of State Christopher has a few remarks he would like to make first.
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Thank you, Wes. Well, we are running on Middle East time. I am sorry we got a little behind, but the result of this is a happy one for you because I have thrown away my fort-five minute speech and I just going to thank you very much all for coming. You are what makes this go. Governments can provide the foundation, but it is business that really does the job. I am so grateful that all of you are here. And, I am grateful for the good talk I hear around the corridors in the deals that have been announced. It is a real tribute to the American business that you have the courage and determination to be out here.
We are trying very hard to help. When I say we, I mean a unified government team. I thought it was a nice tough that the first person that started clapping by the name of our Ambassador was Secretary of Commerce. I think that's some reflection of the fact of how closely Ron Brown, I, and others are working together on this. It is a unified team. Phil Lader, the Small Businesses Administration has been reflected. Is Phil here someplace? I know he has been with us. Ruth Harkin of OPIC has been delayed on her flight in Brussels. I know that she will be here tonight. The Trade and Development Administration is heavily involved. We want to make clear to you that our Administration is friendly to business. We want to do all we can to help business.
Without reaching over too hard to pat myself on the back, I think this is the best relationship between the State Department and the Commerce Department, probably in history. Certainly, it is a very good one. That is what American business deserves. You've made a big difference here. I think we have an opportunity to capitalize on Casablanca and to move it forward. Frankly, after Casablanca last year I was worried. I was worried whether that might be the top of curve, and we couldn't sustain it. Now I am satisfied that not only are we going to be able to do the three things we committed do in Casablanca -- that is to set up the bank, set up the tourism association, set up the business association -- but we can move beyond that to new areas of cooperation. So, it is a very good session, a very good scene. I have just come from meeting with the King, who I think, is justifiably proud with what's been done here in Amman.
One of the nice things that is happening here is people are beginning to compete for future events like this. A number of countries that want to host next year's event are even talking about 1997 events. With the heavy competition growing on where the bank will be located, where various elements are located. That's the measure, I think, of the success of these endeavors. I say it all comes down to the activities that you have on the ground. I know that you are not here, at least, my experience with American businesses is that they have their eye on the ball and they are because they think that there are opportunities. You have an opportunity but you also have a chance to participate in probably the most historic transformation of any region we've seen in a long, long time. You just couldn't imagine two years ago a conference like this taking place. I was watching King Hussein and Prime Minister Rabin sitting together at lunch today. They acted like they had been friends for forty years. It was a very close relationship between the two of them. I think there is more progress made between Jordan and Israel in the last year than has been made with almost any other pair of countries. That is all good news. I hope that this means good things for you.
Now with a great deal of pleasure, I introduce my partner in this endeavor, Ron Brown, Secretary of Commerce.
SECRETARY BROWN: Let me just say that you are the reason that we are here. One of the things that was most pleasing to me is that Secretary Warren Christopher some months ago approached me and asked me to be here with him in Amman. I think that gives you a signal that reinforces what Secretary Christopher said about our relationship. But, the relationship goes more than just between two individuals, and between two departments in the Federal Government. It permeates throughout the Clinton Administration.
The fact is that our commercial offices are working more closely with our Ambassadors than ever before. We're all part of the same team, pulling in the same direction, some people tell me for the first time in recent American history. And, it's all agencies of our government working together because we understand a simple truth. That is, it is the private sector that fuels the engine that pulls the train of economic growth and job creation. We in government have a role to play as well. That role is to clear the tracks so that that train can run smoothly and swiftly, so it can get to its destination so we can remove any barriers that get the way. That's the kind of partnership that we have attempted to create with you. We believe it's working. We believe that its making a difference. The fact is that is the way business is done in this new global economy. Unless we have a partnership between the public and private sector we're not going to be able to achieve our objectives. We believe in not only a competing in the global economic arena but in winning in the global economic arena. That can only happen if your government stands shoulder to shoulder with you to help be strong and effective advocates for your interest, not for any philosophical reasons or ideological reasons, but because we want to be relentlessly programmatic in doing what is best for the American economy. Therefore, it behooves us to see economic growth in Jordan, economic growth in Gaza, economic growth in Israel, economic growth all over this region, not only because it helps the people of this region improve their lives, but it provides a great market for our goods and products and services so we can export more so we can supply some of the capital goods for these major infrastructure projects. To show that we're more than just talk that we're serious, we have produced what we call an opportunities book which has in it over a hundred opportunities here in this region that we want to share with you that we hope that you will pursue. We hope we can coordinate and communicate with you so that we can be advocating your interests as you pursue those opportunities.
You all know that particularly in the developing world it remains the case that the most important decisions are made by government officials. So, it stands to reason that when your government officials are advocating your interest, that helps to level the playing field because we know what our commercial competitors are doing. We know that they're using their governmental resources to help their companies. We can certainly do no less for ours.
So on behalf of Secretary Christopher and on behalf of President Clinton, we just want to express our appreciation to all of you for being here in Amman. We know it has been has been a long journey for almost all of you. We hope it will be worth while. We hope that you share our view, that we have to be here on the ground. We have to be here participating in the economic growth that is going to take place here because we know that there is no better way to support the peace process. As peace comes to this region, the expectations of the people rise considerably. There is only one way to meet those expectations and that is through investment, trade and commerce. That is through promoting the economic world and economic opportunity. That is the only way to change the lives of the people for the better. We intend to be there with you over the long haul to see that we accomplish that mission. Once again, we thank you for joining us here in Amman. Thank you very much.
[end of document]
(applause)
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