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US DEPARTMENT OF STATE DISPATCH
VOLUME 5, NUMBER 36, SEPTEMBER 5, 1994
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE:
1. U.S.-CARICOM Efforts To Support UN Security Council
Resolution 940--Acting Secretary Talbott, Deputy Secretary of
Defense Deutch, Joint Statement, Fact Sheet
2. President Clinton Welcomes IRA Announcement To End
Violence in Northern Ireland
3. U.S. Goals at the Cairo Conference--Timothy E. Wirth
4. Focus on Business: 1994 World Summit on Trade Efficiency
ARTICLE 1
U.S.-CARICOM Efforts To Support UN Security Council
Resolution 940
Acting Secretary Talbott, Deputy Secretary of Defense Deutch,
Joint Statement, Fact Sheet
Acting Secretary Talbott and Deputy Secretary Deutch
Opening remarks at a Department of State press briefing,
Washington, DC, August 31, 1994 (introductory remarks
deleted).
Acting Secretary Talbott. I know there was and continues to
be quite a bit of interest, so we thought we would take this
opportunity to give you a report on our one-day trip to
Jamaica for the CARICOM joint ministerial meeting and to the
Dominican Republic to meet with the leadership there and also
to visit the base of the multilateral observer group that is
going to be helping the Dominicans enforce the sanctions
along the Dominican-Haitian border.
Let me just say a word or two by way of introduction of
Secretary Deutch. There has been a lot in the commentary as
well as the news articles about our Haiti policy--about
signals and messages, and those two words appeared in a
couple of the pieces that reported on our trip yesterday. We
make no bones about the fact that we are, indeed, trying to
send a very clear signal and a very clear message, primarily
to the leadership in Port-au-Prince, and we welcome the
chance, quite candidly, to reinforce that signal and that
message again today.
UN Security Council Resolution 940 authorizes the
international community--the member states of the United
Nations--to use all necessary means to bring about the
departure of the dictators from Haiti and to establish the
conditions that allow the restoration of democracy in Haiti.
What was significant about yesterday's meeting in Jamaica was
that the CARICOM countries committed themselves as a group to
support Resolution 940 and, very specifically, to the "all
necessary means" provision. Four of the seven member states
of CARICOM that have military forces committed themselves to
contribute and participate in what we are calling the
Multinational Force, or MNF. This would be the force that
would go into Haiti--either under permissive or hostile
circumstances--in order to carry out the will of the
international community.
The four states that have committed to participate are
Jamaica, Barbados, Belize, and Trinidad and Tobago. The
other three--Antigua, Bahamas, and Guyana--are involved in
discussions with our government, and we think it is quite
possible--indeed likely--that some of them also will
contribute. But the point I want to stress here is that
CARICOM, as a group, unanimously endorsed the action in the
next step.
Also, several of the CARICOM states that do not have military
forces are prepared, we believe, to contribute police.
Police will be an extremely important part of the
international effort in Haiti after the departure of the
dictators and the restoration of democracy.
Deputy Secretary Deutch. My purpose here in appearing with
Secretary Talbott--our trip yesterday was to make sure that
everybody knew, both within our government and especially in
Haiti, that the Defense Department and the State Department
are together on the policy that we are following. That is a
very important point, and it is true in all particulars.
The second is the question of the message. Strobe has said
it very clearly. The way I say it is that the Multinational
Force is going to Haiti. The issue is the circumstances
under which that force enters Haiti. It could be under a
permissive circumstance at the request of the legitimate
government with the authority of the UN Resolution, or it can
be under contested circumstances if the de facto government--
the illegal government--in Haiti does not come to its senses
and realize that the world is determined to see a change in
that government-- back to the democratically elected
Government of Haiti.
Our interest in this purpose is very simple. The reason this
message is so important is that we would like that
intervention to take place with the minimum number of
casualties possible, both for the Multinational Force and for
the people of Haiti. It is impossible to assure that there
will be no casualties, of course, in any venture of this
kind. We want to stress that the intervention--the
Multinational Force intervention--will have overwhelming
force associated with it so as to try to minimize casualties,
should it be needed. But the best of all circumstances will
be if the "de factos" leave and the legitimate Government of
Haiti is able to come in with the Multinational Force and
have this transition to the legitimate government as rapidly
as possible.
The last point that I would like to make to you is that our
planning is in place. As Strobe has described, we will
integrate in our training, beginning immediately at Roosevelt
Roads in Puerto Rico, the contingents which are coming from
the CARICOM nations and other contingents as they arrive.
That training will include planning logistical support,
command, control, and communications--all the things which
are required to have an effective integrated force. But
planning also, importantly, includes a procedure for turning
over the responsibilities of the Multinational Force to the
subsequent phase of a United Nations Mission in Haiti, the
so-called UNMIH. So we believe that we are ready, when the
circumstances warrant, to return the legitimate government to
Haiti, and we will do so as promptly and as effectively as we
can--once again, with a minimum number of casualties and
hopefully in the absence of the de facto government in that
country.
Joint Statement
Text of a statement issued by CARICOM member countries and
representatives of the U.S. Government at the conclusion of
the meeting of CARICOM policymakers and heads of the military
and police personnel, Kingston, Jamaica, August 30, 1994.
CARICOM countries and the United States met here today and
agreed to coordinate their efforts in support of the
implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution
(UNSCR) 940 designed to facilitate the departure from Haiti
of the military leadership consistent with the Governors
Island Agreement, the prompt return of the legitimately
elected President and the restoration of the legitimate
authorities of the Government of Haiti, and to establish and
maintain a secure and stable environment that will permit
implementation of the Governors Island Agreement. We
anticipate that other governments will be joining in this
effort.
Staff officers from CARICOM countries will soon join with
their U.S. counterparts to finalise and coordinate
arrangements related to their participation in the
implementation of UNSCR 940.
Argentina and the United Kingdom have also agreed to
participate in this multinational coalition. Argentina has
already dispatched a staff officer to Atlantic Command
headquarters and United Kingdom military personnel will
assist in the training programme for the Multinational Force
(MNF).
We were briefed by United Nations personnel attending the
meeting on the current efforts by United Nations Secretary
General Boutros Boutros Ghali to seek, through diplomatic
means, to secure the peaceful implementation of this
resolution.
Even as the MNF is established and preparations undertaken to
participate in the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH),
our governments are united in the hope that these latest
efforts by the UN Secretary General will succeed. However
if, once again, these efforts fail, then our governments are
equally united in their determination to take all necessary
means to carry out the Security Council mandate to restore
the democratic process in Haiti.
The meeting also discussed preparations for deployment of the
UNMIH which, in accordance with UNSCR 940, will replace the
Multinational Force once a stable and secure environment has
been established. Twelve nations have already expressed
interest in participating in this operation, including many
of us represented here today. All of us will continue to
work with the United Nations, and the Secretary General's
Special Representative both with respect to the UN
peacekeeping role and to the UNMIH.
The construction of viable democratic institutions and
support for acceptable economic and social conditions for the
Haitian people are tasks to which we are fully committed and
will make every effort to achieve. Regrettably, these cannot
be effectively pursued until the political crisis in Haiti is
resolved.
UNSCR 940 represents the only remaining avenue in the process
of achieving the objectives of the Governors Island
Agreement, all others having failed. We remain committed to
working for the success of that resolution.
We have just learnt that the Haitian military has rejected
the initiative of the United Nations Secretary General.
We condemn the negative response of the Haitian military to
this latest diplomatic initiative by the UN Secretary General
and consider the murder of Fr. Jean-Marie Vincent, well-known
political activist and supporter of President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, as one more unwelcome and painful reminder of the
total unacceptability of the prevailing situation in Haiti
and of the need for urgent and decisive action as set out in
UNSCR 940.
Fact Sheet: Caribbean Community
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an association of 12
independent English-speaking countries and 1 U.K. dependency.
It was created under the Treaty of Chaguaramas in 1973 to
increase the economic and eventual political integration of
these states.
Through CARICOM, Caribbean leaders aim to develop common
political and economic positions in order to make their
countries a more effective regional unit. CARICOM strongly
supported UN Security Resolution 940 on Haiti in an August
12, 1994, statement. It also is concerned about the role of
Cuba in the hemisphere and the future for the region in a
post-Castro era.
Divergent economic interests, however, have made it difficult
to implement coordinated policies. For example, CARICOM has
faced difficulties in having its members implement the
agreed-upon Common External Tariff. Jamaica and Trinidad and
Tobago are moving toward liberal trade policies, while the
smaller countries favor protectionist policies to support
domestic industries.
In July 1994, CARICOM created the Association of Caribbean
States (ACS), which includes CARICOM members plus the non-
English-speaking Caribbean islands (including Cuba) and
Central American countries as well as Mexico, Colombia, and
Cuba) and Central American countries Venezuela. Key issues
such as the location of the Secretariat and funding have not
been resolved.
In its July 1994 Heads of Government Meeting in Bridgetown,
Barbados, CARICOM agreed to pursue a trade arrangement such
as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It also
agreed that individual members could work bilaterally toward
such an agreement with the United States.
CARICOM members are concerned that NAFTA will divert
investment and trade toward Mexico, particularly in the
textile and apparel sector. In response, the United States
has proposed the Caribbean Basin Interim Trade Program to
give beneficiaries of the Caribbean Basin Initiative
essentially the same treatment that Mexico receives under
NAFTA on textile and apparel products. In return,
beneficiaries would be asked to join the World Trade
Organization and agree to improve treatment of investment,
intellectual property rights, worker rights, and the
environment. The program is designed to help countries in
the region prepare for the obligations of closer and fully
reciprocal trade relations with the United States.
CARICOM
Secretary General: Edwin Carrington (Trinidad and Tobago)
Location of Secretariat: Georgetown, Guyana
Members: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados,
Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana
Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent
and the Grenadines,Trinidad and Tobago
(###)
ARTICLE 2
President Clinton Welcomes IRA Announcement To End Violence
in Northern Ireland
Statement by President Clinton released by the White House,
Office of the Press Secretary, Washington, DC, August 31,
1994.
I welcome today's watershed announcement by the IRA that it
has decided to end the 25-year campaign of violence and
pursue the path of peace. While much work remains to be
done, the IRA's decision to join the political process can
mark the beginning of a new era that holds the promise of
peace for all the people of Northern Ireland.
I have just spoken with Prime Minister Albert Reynolds of
Ireland and Prime Minister John Major of the United Kingdom
to congratulate them for their persistent efforts to bring
this day about. Their joint resolve to end the violence and
pursue a negotiated settlement has been crucial to the
progress made to date. Their historic Joint Declaration last
December, together with the Anglo-Irish agreement of 1985,
have built the foundation for the new hope we have today. I
am pleased that the United States has been able to contribute
to this process of reconciliation.
We join with the Governments of Ireland and the United
Kingdom in the hope and expectation that today's step will
help bring a lasting and just peace to Northern Ireland. I
urge the IRA and all who have supported it to fulfill the
promise of today's announcement to end the use and support of
violence, just as we continue to call on all parties who have
sought to achieve political goals through violence to cease
to do so. There must be a permanent end to the violence.
The United States continues to stand ready to assist in
advancing the process of peace in Northern Ireland. We hope
that both traditions--Unionist and Nationalist--will support
the only real avenue to peace, that of a negotiated
settlement to the conflict.
(###)
ARTICLE 3
U.S. Goals at the Cairo Conference
Timothy E. Wirth, Under Secretary for Global Affairs
Opening remarks at a Department of State press briefing,
Washington, DC, August 31, 1994
The goals of the United States at the Cairo Conference are
three-fold. In other words, we would like to come out with
three results.
A Program of Action
First is a broad, comprehensive program of action. The world
is sharing in Cairo a sense of urgency about the population
situation--a sense of urgency about the fact that we will not
beæable to reach economic development, maintain political
stability, or sustain ecological structures in the world
without population stabilization. This is a sense of urgency
felt by countries all over the world--East-West, North-South,
rich-poor--and the program of action is the template that
will come out of Cairo outlining what effective population
stabilization programs can be.
That program of action--product number one or outcome number
one--of Cairo has been more than 92% agreed to. For those of
you who are into UN documentation, UN documents are done by
consensus. And going into the final negotiations, if areas
of a document are not agreed upon, they have brackets around
them. Going into the Rio Conference in 1992--the Earth
Summit on Environment--nearly 50% of the document was
bracketed. Going into the Human Rights Conference in the
spring of 1993, nearly 30% of that document was bracketed.
Less than 8% of this Cairo document is bracketed. So there
has been an enormous amount of work done and consensus
reached on just about every issue. I will come back to the
remaining issues.
Funding
The second outcome is funding. One of the goals of the Cairo
Conference is to make family planning information and
services available shortly after the turn of the century to
every woman and family in the world who wants them. That
will be an expensive proposition.
Currently, spending is somewhere around $5 to $6 billion a
year in the world on family planning. The cost of making
sure that family planning is available to all individuals in
the world who wish to have it will be in the neighborhood of
$15 billion. So there must be an increase around the world.
The United States has begun to work very hard on that. We
have increased our own contribution to close to $600 million
per year directly into family planning. The U.S. is the
largest contributor in the world. We have persuaded the
Japanese to increase their contribution from $40 million a
year to more than $400 million a year for population and
AIDS. The Canadians, the Australians, the European Union,
the British, the Nordics--have all increased their
contributions.
The World Bank has made population the number-one agenda for
them in 1994, and it was the lead issue that Lou Preston, the
President of the World Bank, spoke about at the time of the
50th anniversary of the Bretton Woods institutions. Mr.
Preston will be one of the opening speakers at the Cairo
Conference.
We think we are making very significant progress on our
second goal, which is the development of the financial
resources necessary to provide family planning to everybody
in the world who wants it.
Program Delivery Mechanism
The third goal is the follow-up mechanism--the delivery
mechanism--for the program of action and the funding, and a
very ambitious program of predominantly women-centered
programs around the world, focused not only on family
planning but on the full range of women's reproductive health
care services. Child mortality programs, the education of
children, and the role of women in economic development are
all part of that follow-up mechanism which is being developed
in each country. Some countries, such as Indonesia, Egypt,
and Bangladesh, have very aggressive programs now. Others
want to learn from the successes of countries that have done
very well.
So there are three goals in Cairo--the program of action, the
funding, and the follow-up mechanism--and we think that we
are very close to achieving very, very good results in all
three.
Issues in the Program of Action
Finally, in the program of action, those items that are
bracketed or still in disagreement are threefold: the issue
of adolescence, the issue of women's reproductive health care
services, and the issue of abortion.
Adolescence. On the issue of adolescence, I would remind all
of you that by the year 2000 there will be more than 1
billion teenagers in the world--1 billion teenagers--moving
into their reproductive health care years. And it is because
of the very rapid growth of this group of people that there
is a sense of urgency.
While the world's rate of population increase has in fact
gone down from where it had been at a high point, it is still
well above the replacement rate, and having so many people
moving into the childbearing years means that there is
potentially a very sharp increase in the rise of population--
world population. Today, it is increasing by almost 100
million per year. That is the equivalent of a Mexico every
year or a China every 10 years or, to put it in our terms, a
New York City every month.
The adolescence issue is very important. There has been
controversy surrounding the availability of family planning
information and services to adolescents. The Canadians have
been working on and in the lead on language to sort through
the adolescence issue. We have had very extensive
discussions with Father Martin--the head of the Holy See's
Delegation--and with others, and I think that the adolescence
issue is well on the way toward being resolved.
Women's Reproductive Health Care Services. The second issue
is theærange of reproductive health care services available
to women. This issue is of concern to the European Union,
which is floating a draft proposal on that front which picks
up on the World Health Organization recommendations related
to reproductive health care services, and we believe that
that is well on its way toward being resolved.
Abortion. The third issue upon which there probably will not
be agreement at the Cairo Conference is how to deal with the
abortion question. Out of 189 countries who participate at
the United Nations, 172 allow abortion in some form. Some
allow the full range of access to abortion. Others do so
when the health of the mother is in danger. Others do so in
the case only of rape and incest. It varies all the way
across the board.
It had been our proposal with Colombia in the spring of 1994
that we deal with the abortion issue as part of the
reproductive health care services package and say very
clearly that reproductive health care services would, of
course, be made available in any country based upon the
framework of law, culture, and religion existing in that
country.
The UN has no right or authority to impose anything on any
country, and putting this in the context of the laws of each
country we think is the way in which the abortion issue can
be resolved to the point where we can end up with that issue
also, we hope, close to agreement at the conference.
There is very good progress being made on our goals, and the
remaining three issues--adolescence, reproductive health care
services, and abortion--we think are also on the way to being
resolved, especially the issues of adolescence and
reproductive health-care services.
Security in Cairo
Finally, Mike McCurry released yesterday a statement by the
United States on the issue of security in Cairo. We have
been working very closely with the United Nations and with
the Egyptian Government on issues of security. It is clear
that the Egyptian Government has been anticipating this
conference.
There was a successful, very large conference of tourism
people from all over the world held there last spring. There
were, despite allegations of problems, no problems
whatsoever. The American embassy personnel in Cairo had no
problems at all for a long period of time, unlike almost any
other embassy in a large city any place else in the world.
The issues that have been illustrated on a security measure
occurred south of Cairo--halfway between Cairo and Aswan--in
an area that has been for 1,000 years the home of a number of
more radical revolutionary groups. That is where the problem
occurred the day before yesterday with the unfortunate
killing of the young Spanish student. We have advised all
Americans not to travel through that area of Egypt. We have
put out very careful advisories to people on just being
careful as you would be in any large city, and the United
States has no intention of changing its plans, and we don't
know of other delegations who, onæthe basis of security, have
made changes in their plans.
We are monitoring the question--the issue--obviously, very
closely and are in very close touch with as many of the U.S.
NGOs--citizen groups--that are going to Cairo that we know
about, and have, again as I said, worked very closely with
the UN and Egyptian authorities.
(###)
ARTICLE 4
Focus on Business
1994 World Summit on Trade Efficiency
World Summit and the Information Superhighway
Exciting business opportunities are likely to mushroom in
markets around the world in the wake of the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade and North American Free Trade Agreement
trade liberalizations, but how can entrepreneurs of small-
and medium-sized businesses participate in the emerging new
ventures? Can state-of-the-art technology and the
information superhighway bring new opportunity as close as
your computer keyboard? Where can U.S. entrepreneurs go to
network with key international public and private decision-
makers with the power to influence marketing and information
technology opportunities?
These questions--and more--will be answered at the World
Summit on Trade Efficiency in Columbus, Ohio, October 17-21,
1994. It will focus on "trade efficiency"--the use of modern
information technology to expand international trade. Co-
sponsored by the UN Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD), the city of Columbus, and private sector business,
this unique event will attract national ministers of trade
and mayors, as well as 2,000 other public and private sector
leaders from the around the world.
The symposium will consist of four separate but interlinked
parts:
The UN International Symposium on Trade Efficiency will bring
together trade ministers and other senior officials from 187
UNCTAD member countries to discuss the application of new
technology in inter- national trade. This meeting will
review practical measures which can be taken in customs,
business information, trade procedures, banking/insurance,
transport, and telecommunications to facilitate world trade.
At the Global Summit for Mayors, 300 mayors from around the
world will examine the new local government/private sector
partnership for development. Hosted by Columbus Mayor
Gregory Lashutka, key topics will include municipal
infrastructure for trade, cities and global competition, and
the impact of international trade and electronic commerce on
urban employment.
The Global Executive Trade Summit will concentrate on CEOs
from small- and medium-sized businesses in assessing
opportunities and requirements for global trade and building
strategic advantages in a world of networks. This summit
will feature a variety of distinguished speakers and panels
on such topics as global competition and the information
revolution, global trade alliances for small- and medium-
sized companies, global payments systems, and restructuring
business around trade efficiency. Parallel to the summit
will be regional focus sessions on business strategies for
Europe, Africa, Asia, the Western Hemisphere, and the Middle
East.
The World Trade Efficiency and Technology Exhibition will
demonstrate a wide spectrum of technologies and applications
for trade produced by many countries. The emphasis will be
on education, with "hands-on" opportunities to try out a
variety of electronic commercial solutions for trade
efficiency. More than 150 prominent exhibitors--including
the European Union and major multinational corporations--will
attend.
The Global Executive Trade Summit and World Trade Efficiency
and Technology Exhibition are open to CEOs and other senior
executives from the business community. In addition, special
plenary luncheons and receptions, open to all participants,
will offer an opportunity for entrepreneurs to network with
other key public and private sector leaders attending this
unprecedented worldwide symposium.
Pioneering Project in Trade Efficiency
The symposium is linked to an innovative UNCTAD program
designed to lower the costs of conducting international trade
and to ease entry by small- and medium-sized businesses into
global commerce by providing access to resources and
information that previously may have been unavailable to
them. Trade efficiency will lower the cost of international
trade deals by 10%--a savings of $100 billion each year in
transaction costs. This far exceeds the cost savings from
more conventional tariff and non-tariff reductions.
What Is a "Trade Point"?
The new UNCTAD program uses Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
and other technologies to establish a network of Trade Points
around the globe. These Trade Points provide electronic
access to representatives of all the participants needed to
engage in a trade transaction--from customs to freight
forwarders, bankers, insurers, and transportation companies.
Through the network, companies can identify and compete in
new markets for their products, source components, and raw
materials, and advertise their goods electronically in a
multi-media catalog.
In February 1992, UNCTAD authorized the establishment of a
pilot program of 16 Trade Points. In August 1992, Columbus,
Ohio, was designated as the site of the North American Trade
Point (NATP). Today, there are 46 Trade Points on five
continents, and UNCTAD estimates that the Global Trade Point
network could number in the hundreds by the end of 1995. The
global network will be launched officially at the World
Summit on Trade Efficiency and will be demonstrated at the
Technology Exhibition.
Technology Simplifies Trade
Rather than search for new solutions or invent new
technology, the Trade Point Network integrates existing
resources. It uses information technology employing the UN
Electronic Data Inter- change for Administration, Commerce,
and Transport (EDIFACT) standards, which allow the computers
of domestic and international trading partners to communicate
using a standard document format.
The UN estimates that a normal maritime carrier arrives at a
port with nearly 500 pounds of paper relating to the cargo.
EDI automates and simplifies the complex paperwork process
currently required to conduct international trade. More than
20,000 U.S. businesses currently use EDI.
High-tech countries, such as the United States, primarily
will provide their services on-line over computer networks
and through existing trade assistance organizations. But the
Trade Point global network also will benefit developing
countries--those who currently have limited access to
information services and technology. These countries will
establish multiple Trade Points within their borders to offer
"walk-in" access to international markets. For example,
Colombia's pilot program was so successful, that its leaders
plan to open dozens of Trade Points, one in every important
city in the country.
UNCTAD officials believe that the Global Trade Point Network
creates a level playing field by allowing companies, which
traditionally would not have the financial and human
resources to engage in international trade, to do so--
inexpensively and efficiently. Pilot centers initially were
established in Bangkok, Thailand; Tunis, Tunisia; Cartagena,
Colombia; and Columbus, Ohio. Currently, about 60 countries-
-primarily in the developing world--are in the process of
establishing Trade Points. The summit will discuss ways in
which Trade Points and other new information and technology
mediums can help smaller firms tap business opportunities
more efficiently in the expanding global marketplace.
U.S. Delegation
Commerce Secretary Ron Brown will lead the official U.S.
delegation to the UN conference. As host Trade Minister,
Secretary Brown will make welcoming remarks during the
opening plenary of the event. Noting the great significance
of this event for the U.S. business community, he said: "By
bringing trade efficiency to the doorstep of all nations,
large and small, the symposium will open new avenues for
commerce and development."
Other key speakers at the summit will include U.S. Customs
Commissioner George Weise, UN Secretary General Boutros
Boutros Ghali, and a variety of senior-level public and
private sector leaders from around the world. Key U.S.
Government sponsors of the summit include the State
Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, Small
Business Administration, and Export-Import Bank.
Columbus: Crossroads of Trade
Columbus, Ohio, was selected as the international conference
site because of its prominence as a locus of some of the
largest data bases, software companies, and computer networks
in the world. The city, in the words of Mayor Lashutka, "is
becoming America's premier inland port city for international
trade. Mayors will want to see how we have combined our
physical and electronic resources to become a key
distribution point for goods and services in North America."
Further Information
As trade barriers fall and the use of electronic commerce
grows, this event will be of special importance to CEOs and
other senior business executives. For further information,
including registration costs for the private sector portion
of the event, companies in the U.S. and elsewhere in the
Western Hemisphere should contact:
Bannister & Associates
Tel: 614-895-1355
Fax: 614-895-3466
Companies with operations or affiliates overseas may contact:
Touchstone Exhibitions & Conferences Ltd. (London)
Tel: 44 (0) 332 0044
Fax: 44 (0) 81 332 0874.
Global Trade Point Network
Algeria: Algiers
Argentina: Santa Fe
Bolivia: Cochabamba
Brazil: Brasilia, Campinas, Florianapolis, Porto Alegre
Cape Verde: Praia
Chile: Santiago
China: Shanghai
Colombia: Bogota, Cartagena
Cote d'Ivoire: Abidjan
Ecuador: Guayaquil
Egypt: Cairo
Estonia: Tallinn
Finland: Helsinki
France: Grenoble, Lille, Marseille
Gabon: Libreville
Germany: Rostock
Hungary: Budapest
India: New Delhi
Indonesia: two Trade Points
Kenya: Nairobi
South Korea: Seoul
Mauritania: Nouakchott
Morocco: Casablanca
Mozambique: Maputo
Philippines: Manila
Portugal: Lisbon, Porto
Russia: Moscow
Sao Tome and Principe: Sao Tome
Senegal: Dakar
Singapore: Singapore
Switzerland: Lausanne
Tanzania: Dar es Salaam
Thailand: Bangkok
Tunisia: Tunis
Ukraine: Kiev
United Kingdom: London
United States: Columbus, Ohio
Zambia: Lusaka
(###)
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US DEPARTMENT OF STATE DISPATCH
VOLUME 5, NUMBER 36, SEPTEMBER 5, 1994
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE:
1. U.S.-CARICOM Efforts To Support UN Security
Council Resolution 940--Acting Secretary Talbott,
Deputy Secretary of Defense Deutch, Joint Statement,
Fact Sheet
2. President Clinton Welcomes IRA Announcement To
End Violence in Northern Ireland
3. U.S. Goals at the Cairo Conference--Timothy E.
Wirth
4. Focus on Business: 1994 World Summit on Trade
Efficiency
ARTICLE 1
U.S.-CARICOM Efforts To Support UN Security Council
Resolution 940
Acting Secretary Talbott, Deputy Secretary of
Defense Deutch, Joint Statement, Fact Sheet
Acting Secretary Talbott and Deputy Secretary
Deutch
Opening remarks at a Department of State press
briefing, Washington, DC, August 31, 1994
(introductory remarks deleted).
Acting Secretary Talbott. I know there was and
continues to be quite a bit of interest, so we
thought we would take this opportunity to give you a
report on our one-day trip to Jamaica for the
CARICOM joint ministerial meeting and to the
Dominican Republic to meet with the leadership there
and also to visit the base of the multilateral
observer group that is going to be helping the
Dominicans enforce the sanctions along the
Dominican-Haitian border.
Let me just say a word or two by way of introduction
of Secretary Deutch. There has been a lot in the
commentary as well as the news articles about our
Haiti policy--about signals and messages, and those
two words appeared in a couple of the pieces that
reported on our trip yesterday. We make no bones
about the fact that we are, indeed, trying to send a
very clear signal and a very clear message,
primarily to the leadership in Port-au-Prince, and
we welcome the chance, quite candidly, to reinforce
that signal and that message again today.
UN Security Council Resolution 940 authorizes the
international community--the member states of the
United Nations--to use all necessary means to bring
about the departure of the dictators from Haiti and
to establish the conditions that allow the
restoration of democracy in Haiti.
What was significant about yesterday's meeting in
Jamaica was that the CARICOM countries committed
themselves as a group to support Resolution 940
and, very specifically, to the "all necessary
means" provision. Four of the seven member states
of CARICOM that have military forces committed
themselves to contribute and participate in what we
are calling the Multinational Force, or MNF. This
would be the force that would go into Haiti--either
under permissive or hostile circumstances--in order
to carry out the will of the international
community.
The four states that have committed to participate
are Jamaica, Barbados, Belize, and Trinidad and
Tobago. The other three--Antigua, Bahamas, and
Guyana--are involved in discussions with our
government, and we think it is quite possible--
indeed likely--that some of them also will
contribute. But the point I want to stress here is
that CARICOM, as a group, unanimously endorsed the
action in the next step.
Also, several of the CARICOM states that do not have
military forces are prepared, we believe, to
contribute police. Police will be an extremely
important part of the international effort in Haiti
after the departure of the dictators and the
restoration of democracy.
Deputy Secretary Deutch. My purpose here in
appearing with Secretary Talbott--our trip yesterday
was to make sure that everybody knew, both within
our government and especially in Haiti, that the
Defense Department and the State Department are
together on the policy that we are following. That
is a very important point, and it is true in all
particulars.
The second is the question of the message. Strobe
has said it very clearly. The way I say it is that
the Multinational Force is going to Haiti. The
issue is the circumstances under which that force
enters Haiti. It could be under a permissive
circumstance at the request of the legitimate
government with the authority of the UN Resolution,
or it can be under contested circumstances if the de
facto government--the illegal government--in Haiti
does not come to its senses and realize that the
world is determined to see a change in that
government-- back to the democratically elected
Government of Haiti.
Our interest in this purpose is very simple. The
reason this message is so important is that we would
like that intervention to take place with the
minimum number of casualties possible, both for the
Multinational Force and for the people of Haiti. It
is impossible to assure that there will be no
casualties, of course, in any venture of this kind.
We want to stress that the intervention--the
Multinational Force intervention--will have
overwhelming force associated with it so as to try
to minimize casualties, should it be needed. But
the best of all circumstances will be if the "de
factos" leave and the legitimate Government of Haiti
is able to come in with the Multinational Force and
have this transition to the legitimate government as
rapidly as possible.
The last point that I would like to make to you is
that our planning is in place. As Strobe has
described, we will integrate in our training,
beginning immediately at Roosevelt Roads in Puerto
Rico, the contingents which are coming from the
CARICOM nations and other contingents as they
arrive. That training will include planning
logistical support, command, control, and
communications--all the things which are required to
have an effective integrated force. But planning
also, importantly, includes a procedure for turning
over the responsibilities of the Multinational Force
to the subsequent phase of a United Nations Mission
in Haiti, the so-called UNMIH. So we believe that
we are ready, when the circumstances warrant, to
return the legitimate government to Haiti, and we
will do so as promptly and as effectively as we can-
-once again, with a minimum number of casualties and
hopefully in the absence of the de facto government
in that country.
Joint Statement
Text of a statement issued by CARICOM member
countries and representatives of the U.S. Government
at the conclusion of the meeting of CARICOM
policymakers and heads of the military and police
personnel, Kingston, Jamaica, August 30, 1994.
CARICOM countries and the United States met here
today and agreed to coordinate their efforts in
support of the implementation of United Nations
Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 940 designed to
facilitate the departure from Haiti of the military
leadership consistent with the Governors Island
Agreement, the prompt return of the legitimately
elected President and the restoration of the
legitimate authorities of the Government of Haiti,
and to establish and maintain a secure and stable
environment that will permit implementation of the
Governors Island Agreement. We anticipate that
other governments will be joining in this effort.
Staff officers from CARICOM countries will soon join
with their U.S. counterparts to finalise and
coordinate arrangements related to their
participation in the implementation of UNSCR 940.
Argentina and the United Kingdom have also agreed to
participate in this multinational coalition.
Argentina has already dispatched a staff officer to
Atlantic Command headquarters and United Kingdom
military personnel will assist in the training
programme for the Multinational Force (MNF).
We were briefed by United Nations personnel
attending the meeting on the current efforts by
United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros
Ghali to seek, through diplomatic means, to secure
the peaceful implementation of this resolution.
Even as the MNF is established and preparations
undertaken to participate in the United Nations
Mission in Haiti (UNMIH), our governments are united
in the hope that these latest efforts by the UN
Secretary General will succeed. However if, once
again, these efforts fail, then our governments are
equally united in their determination to take all
necessary means to carry out the Security Council
mandate to restore the democratic process in Haiti.
The meeting also discussed preparations for
deployment of the UNMIH which, in accordance with
UNSCR 940, will replace the Multinational Force once
a stable and secure environment has been
established. Twelve nations have already expressed
interest in participating in this operation,
including many of us represented here today. All of
us will continue to work with the United Nations,
and the Secretary General's Special Representative
both with respect to the UN peacekeeping role and to
the UNMIH.
The construction of viable democratic institutions
and support for acceptable economic and social
conditions for the Haitian people are tasks to which
we are fully committed and will make every effort to
achieve. Regrettably, these cannot be effectively
pursued until the political crisis in Haiti is
resolved.
UNSCR 940 represents the only remaining avenue in
the process of achieving the objectives of the
Governors Island Agreement, all others having
failed. We remain committed to working for the
success of that resolution.
We have just learnt that the Haitian military has
rejected the initiative of the United Nations
Secretary General.
We condemn the negative response of the Haitian
military to this latest diplomatic initiative by the
UN Secretary General and consider the murder of Fr.
Jean-Marie Vincent, well-known political activist
and supporter of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
as one more unwelcome and painful reminder of the
total unacceptability of the prevailing situation in
Haiti and of the need for urgent and decisive action
as set out in UNSCR 940.
Fact Sheet: Caribbean Community
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an association
of 12 independent English-speaking countries and 1
U.K. dependency. It was created under the Treaty of
Chaguaramas in 1973 to increase the economic and
eventual political integration of these states.
Through CARICOM, Caribbean leaders aim to develop
common political and economic positions in order to
make their countries a more effective regional unit.
CARICOM strongly supported UN Security Resolution
940 on Haiti in an August 12, 1994, statement. It
also is concerned about the role of Cuba in the
hemisphere and the future for the region in a post-
Castro era.
Divergent economic interests, however, have made it
difficult to implement coordinated policies. For
example, CARICOM has faced difficulties in having
its members implement the agreed-upon Common
External Tariff. Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago
are moving toward liberal trade policies, while the
smaller countries favor protectionist policies to
support domestic industries.
In July 1994, CARICOM created the Association of
Caribbean States (ACS), which includes CARICOM
members plus the non-English-speaking Caribbean
islands (including Cuba) and Central American
countries as well as Mexico, Colombia, and Cuba) and
Central American countries Venezuela. Key issues
such as the location of the Secretariat and funding
have not been resolved.
In its July 1994 Heads of Government Meeting in
Bridgetown, Barbados, CARICOM agreed to pursue a
trade arrangement such as the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It also agreed that
individual members could work bilaterally toward
such an agreement with the United States.
CARICOM members are concerned that NAFTA will divert
investment and trade toward Mexico, particularly in
the textile and apparel sector. In response, the
United States has proposed the Caribbean Basin
Interim Trade Program to give beneficiaries of the
Caribbean Basin Initiative essentially the same
treatment that Mexico receives under NAFTA on
textile and apparel products. In return,
beneficiaries would be asked to join the World Trade
Organization and agree to improve treatment of
investment, intellectual property rights, worker
rights, and the environment. The program is
designed to help countries in the region prepare for
the obligations of closer and fully reciprocal trade
relations with the United States.
CARICOM
Secretary General: Edwin Carrington (Trinidad and
Tobago)
Location of Secretariat: Georgetown, Guyana
Members: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas,
Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana
Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St.
Vincent and the Grenadines,Trinidad and Tobago
(###)
ARTICLE 2
President Clinton Welcomes IRA Announcement To End
Violence in Northern Ireland
Statement by President Clinton released by the White
House, Office of the Press Secretary, Washington,
DC, August 31, 1994.
I welcome today's watershed announcement by the IRA
that it has decided to end the 25-year campaign of
violence and pursue the path of peace. While much
work remains to be done, the IRA's decision to join
the political process can mark the beginning of a
new era that holds the promise of peace for all the
people of Northern Ireland.
I have just spoken with Prime Minister Albert
Reynolds of Ireland and Prime Minister John Major of
the United Kingdom to congratulate them for their
persistent efforts to bring this day about. Their
joint resolve to end the violence and pursue a
negotiated settlement has been crucial to the
progress made to date. Their historic Joint
Declaration last December, together with the Anglo-
Irish agreement of 1985, have built the foundation
for the new hope we have today. I am pleased that
the United States has been able to contribute to
this process of reconciliation.
We join with the Governments of Ireland and the
United Kingdom in the hope and expectation that
today's step will help bring a lasting and just
peace to Northern Ireland. I urge the IRA and all
who have supported it to fulfill the promise of
today's announcement to end the use and support of
violence, just as we continue to call on all parties
who have sought to achieve political goals through
violence to cease to do so. There must be a
permanent end to the violence.
The United States continues to stand ready to assist
in advancing the process of peace in Northern
Ireland. We hope that both traditions--Unionist and
Nationalist--will support the only real avenue to
peace, that of a negotiated settlement to the
conflict.
(###)
ARTICLE 3
U.S. Goals at the Cairo Conference
Timothy E. Wirth, Under Secretary for Global Affairs
Opening remarks at a Department of State press
briefing, Washington, DC, August 31, 1994
The goals of the United States at the Cairo
Conference are three-fold. In other words, we would
like to come out with three results.
A Program of Action
First is a broad, comprehensive program of action.
The world is sharing in Cairo a sense of urgency
about the population situation--a sense of urgency
about the fact that we will not beæable to reach
economic development, maintain political stability,
or sustain ecological structures in the world
without population stabilization. This is a sense
of urgency felt by countries all over the world--
East-West, North-South, rich-poor--and the program
of action is the template that will come out of
Cairo outlining what effective population
stabilization programs can be.
That program of action--product number one or
outcome number one--of Cairo has been more than 92%
agreed to. For those of you who are into UN
documentation, UN documents are done by consensus.
And going into the final negotiations, if areas of a
document are not agreed upon, they have brackets
around them. Going into the Rio Conference in 1992-
-the Earth Summit on Environment--nearly 50% of the
document was bracketed. Going into the Human Rights
Conference in the spring of 1993, nearly 30% of that
document was bracketed. Less than 8% of this Cairo
document is bracketed. So there has been an
enormous amount of work done and consensus reached
on just about every issue. I will come back to the
remaining issues.
Funding
The second outcome is funding. One of the goals of
the Cairo Conference is to make family planning
information and services available shortly after the
turn of the century to every woman and family in the
world who wants them. That will be an expensive
proposition.
Currently, spending is somewhere around $5 to $6
billion a year in the world on family planning. The
cost of making sure that family planning is
available to all individuals in the world who wish
to have it will be in the neighborhood of $15
billion. So there must be an increase around the
world.
The United States has begun to work very hard on
that. We have increased our own contribution to
close to $600 million per year directly into family
planning. The U.S. is the largest contributor in
the world. We have persuaded the Japanese to
increase their contribution from $40 million a year
to more than $400 million a year for population and
AIDS. The Canadians, the Australians, the European
Union, the British, the Nordics--have all increased
their contributions.
The World Bank has made population the number-one
agenda for them in 1994, and it was the lead issue
that Lou Preston, the President of the World Bank,
spoke about at the time of the 50th anniversary of
the Bretton Woods institutions. Mr. Preston will be
one of the opening speakers at the Cairo Conference.
We think we are making very significant progress on
our second goal, which is the development of the
financial resources necessary to provide family
planning to everybody in the world who wants it.
Program Delivery Mechanism
The third goal is the follow-up mechanism--the
delivery mechanism--for the program of action and
the funding, and a very ambitious program of
predominantly women-centered programs around the
world, focused not only on family planning but on
the full range of women's reproductive health care
services. Child mortality programs, the education
of children, and the role of women in economic
development are all part of that follow-up mechanism
which is being developed in each country. Some
countries, such as Indonesia, Egypt, and Bangladesh,
have very aggressive programs now. Others want to
learn from the successes of countries that have done
very well.
So there are three goals in Cairo--the program of
action, the funding, and the follow-up mechanism--
and we think that we are very close to achieving
very, very good results in all three.
Issues in the Program of Action
Finally, in the program of action, those items that
are bracketed or still in disagreement are
threefold: the issue of adolescence, the issue of
women's reproductive health care services, and the
issue of abortion.
Adolescence. On the issue of adolescence, I would
remind all of you that by the year 2000 there will
be more than 1 billion teenagers in the world--1
billion teenagers--moving into their reproductive
health care years. And it is because of the very
rapid growth of this group of people that there is a
sense of urgency.
While the world's rate of population increase has in
fact gone down from where it had been at a high
point, it is still well above the replacement rate,
and having so many people moving into the
childbearing years means that there is potentially a
very sharp increase in the rise of population--world
population. Today, it is increasing by almost 100
million per year. That is the equivalent of a
Mexico every year or a China every 10 years or, to
put it in our terms, a New York City every month.
The adolescence issue is very important. There has
been controversy surrounding the availability of
family planning information and services to
adolescents. The Canadians have been working on and
in the lead on language to sort through the
adolescence issue. We have had very extensive
discussions with Father Martin--the head of the Holy
See's Delegation--and with others, and I think that
the adolescence issue is well on the way toward
being resolved.
Women's Reproductive Health Care Services. The
second issue is theærange of reproductive health
care services available to women. This issue is of
concern to the European Union, which is floating a
draft proposal on that front which picks up on the
World Health Organization recommendations related to
reproductive health care services, and we believe
that that is well on its way toward being resolved.
Abortion. The third issue upon which there probably
will not be agreement at the Cairo Conference is how
to deal with the abortion question. Out of 189
countries who participate at the United Nations, 172
allow abortion in some form. Some allow the full
range of access to abortion. Others do so when the
health of the mother is in danger. Others do so in
the case only of rape and incest. It varies all the
way across the board.
It had been our proposal with Colombia in the spring
of 1994 that we deal with the abortion issue as part
of the reproductive health care services package and
say very clearly that reproductive health care
services would, of course, be made available in any
country based upon the framework of law, culture,
and religion existing in that country.
The UN has no right or authority to impose anything
on any country, and putting this in the context of
the laws of each country we think is the way in
which the abortion issue can be resolved to the
point where we can end up with that issue also, we
hope, close to agreement at the conference.
There is very good progress being made on our goals,
and the remaining three issues--adolescence,
reproductive health care services, and abortion--we
think are also on the way to being resolved,
especially the issues of adolescence and
reproductive health-care services.
Security in Cairo
Finally, Mike McCurry released yesterday a statement
by the United States on the issue of security in
Cairo. We have been working very closely with the
United Nations and with the Egyptian Government on
issues of security. It is clear that the Egyptian
Government has been anticipating this conference.
There was a successful, very large conference of
tourism people from all over the world held there
last spring. There were, despite allegations of
problems, no problems whatsoever. The American
embassy personnel in Cairo had no problems at all
for a long period of time, unlike almost any other
embassy in a large city any place else in the world.
The issues that have been illustrated on a security
measure occurred south of Cairo--halfway between
Cairo and Aswan--in an area that has been for 1,000
years the home of a number of more radical
revolutionary groups. That is where the problem
occurred the day before yesterday with the
unfortunate killing of the young Spanish student.
We have advised all Americans not to travel through
that area of Egypt. We have put out very careful
advisories to people on just being careful as you
would be in any large city, and the United States
has no intention of changing its plans, and we don't
know of other delegations who, onæthe basis of
security, have made changes in their plans.
We are monitoring the question--the issue--
obviously, very closely and are in very close touch
with as many of the U.S. NGOs--citizen groups--that
are going to Cairo that we know about, and have,
again as I said, worked very closely with the UN and
Egyptian authorities.
(###)
ARTICLE 4
Focus on Business
1994 World Summit on Trade Efficiency
World Summit and the Information Superhighway
Exciting business opportunities are likely to
mushroom in markets around the world in the wake of
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and North
American Free Trade Agreement trade liberalizations,
but how can entrepreneurs of small- and medium-sized
businesses participate in the emerging new ventures?
Can state-of-the-art technology and the information
superhighway bring new opportunity as close as your
computer keyboard? Where can U.S. entrepreneurs go
to network with key international public and private
decision-makers with the power to influence
marketing and information technology opportunities?
These questions--and more--will be answered at the
World Summit on Trade Efficiency in Columbus, Ohio,
October 17-21, 1994. It will focus on "trade
efficiency"--the use of modern information
technology to expand international trade. Co-
sponsored by the UN Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD), the city of Columbus, and
private sector business, this unique event will
attract national ministers of trade and mayors, as
well as 2,000 other public and private sector
leaders from the around the world.
The symposium will consist of four separate but
interlinked parts:
The UN International Symposium on Trade Efficiency
will bring together trade ministers and other senior
officials from 187 UNCTAD member countries to
discuss the application of new technology in inter-
national trade. This meeting will review practical
measures which can be taken in customs, business
information, trade procedures, banking/insurance,
transport, and telecommunications to facilitate
world trade.
At the Global Summit for Mayors, 300 mayors from
around the world will examine the new local
government/private sector partnership for
development. Hosted by Columbus Mayor Gregory
Lashutka, key topics will include municipal
infrastructure for trade, cities and global
competition, and the impact of international trade
and electronic commerce on urban employment.
The Global Executive Trade Summit will concentrate
on CEOs from small- and medium-sized businesses in
assessing opportunities and requirements for global
trade and building strategic advantages in a world
of networks. This summit will feature a variety of
distinguished speakers and panels on such topics as
global competition and the information revolution,
global trade alliances for small- and medium-sized
companies, global payments systems, and
restructuring business around trade efficiency.
Parallel to the summit will be regional focus
sessions on business strategies for Europe, Africa,
Asia, the Western Hemisphere, and the Middle East.
The World Trade Efficiency and Technology Exhibition
will demonstrate a wide spectrum of technologies and
applications for trade produced by many countries.
The emphasis will be on education, with "hands-on"
opportunities to try out a variety of electronic
commercial solutions for trade efficiency. More
than 150 prominent exhibitors--including the
European Union and major multinational corporations-
-will attend.
The Global Executive Trade Summit and World Trade
Efficiency and Technology Exhibition are open to
CEOs and other senior executives from the business
community. In addition, special plenary luncheons
and receptions, open to all participants, will offer
an opportunity for entrepreneurs to network with
other key public and private sector leaders
attending this unprecedented worldwide symposium.
Pioneering Project in Trade Efficiency
The symposium is linked to an innovative UNCTAD
program designed to lower the costs of conducting
international trade and to ease entry by small- and
medium-sized businesses into global commerce by
providing access to resources and information that
previously may have been unavailable to them. Trade
efficiency will lower the cost of international
trade deals by 10%--a savings of $100 billion each
year in transaction costs. This far exceeds the
cost savings from more conventional tariff and non-
tariff reductions.
What Is a "Trade Point"?
The new UNCTAD program uses Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) and other technologies to
establish a network of Trade Points around the
globe. These Trade Points provide electronic access
to representatives of all the participants needed to
engage in a trade transaction--from customs to
freight forwarders, bankers, insurers, and
transportation companies. Through the network,
companies can identify and compete in new markets
for their products, source components, and raw
materials, and advertise their goods electronically
in a multi-media catalog.
In February 1992, UNCTAD authorized the
establishment of a pilot program of 16 Trade Points.
In August 1992, Columbus, Ohio, was designated as
the site of the North American Trade Point (NATP).
Today, there are 46 Trade Points on five continents,
and UNCTAD estimates that the Global Trade Point
network could number in the hundreds by the end of
1995. The global network will be launched
officially at the World Summit on Trade Efficiency
and will be demonstrated at the Technology
Exhibition.
Technology Simplifies Trade
Rather than search for new solutions or invent new
technology, the Trade Point Network integrates
existing resources. It uses information technology
employing the UN Electronic Data Inter- change for
Administration, Commerce, and Transport (EDIFACT)
standards, which allow the computers of domestic and
international trading partners to communicate using
a standard document format.
The UN estimates that a normal maritime carrier
arrives at a port with nearly 500 pounds of paper
relating to the cargo. EDI automates and simplifies
the complex paperwork process currently required to
conduct international trade. More than 20,000 U.S.
businesses currently use EDI.
High-tech countries, such as the United States,
primarily will provide their services on-line over
computer networks and through existing trade
assistance organizations. But the Trade Point
global network also will benefit developing
countries--those who currently have limited access
to information services and technology. These
countries will establish multiple Trade Points
within their borders to offer "walk-in" access to
international markets. For example, Colombia's
pilot program was so successful, that its leaders
plan to open dozens of Trade Points, one in every
important city in the country.
UNCTAD officials believe that the Global Trade Point
Network creates a level playing field by allowing
companies, which traditionally would not have the
financial and human resources to engage in
international trade, to do so--inexpensively and
efficiently. Pilot centers initially were
established in Bangkok, Thailand; Tunis, Tunisia;
Cartagena, Colombia; and Columbus, Ohio. Currently,
about 60 countries--primarily in the developing
world--are in the process of establishing Trade
Points. The summit will discuss ways in which Trade
Points and other new information and technology
mediums can help smaller firms tap business
opportunities more efficiently in the expanding
global marketplace.
U.S. Delegation
Commerce Secretary Ron Brown will lead the official
U.S. delegation to the UN conference. As host Trade
Minister, Secretary Brown will make welcoming
remarks during the opening plenary of the event.
Noting the great significance of this event for the
U.S. business community, he said: "By bringing
trade efficiency to the doorstep of all nations,
large and small, the symposium will open new avenues
for commerce and development."
Other key speakers at the summit will include U.S.
Customs Commissioner George Weise, UN Secretary
General Boutros Boutros Ghali, and a variety of
senior-level public and private sector leaders from
around the world. Key U.S. Government sponsors of
the summit include the State Department, U.S. Agency
for International Development, Small Business
Administration, and Export-Import Bank.
Columbus: Crossroads of Trade
Columbus, Ohio, was selected as the international
conference site because of its prominence as a locus
of some of the largest data bases, software
companies, and computer networks in the world. The
city, in the words of Mayor Lashutka, "is becoming
America's premier inland port city for international
trade. Mayors will want to see how we have combined
our physical and electronic resources to become a
key distribution point for goods and services in
North America."
Further Information
As trade barriers fall and the use of electronic
commerce grows, this event will be of special
importance to CEOs and other senior business
executives. For further information, including
registration costs for the private sector portion of
the event, companies in the U.S. and elsewhere in
the Western Hemisphere should contact:
Bannister & Associates
Tel: 614-895-1355
Fax: 614-895-3466
Companies with operations or affiliates overseas may
contact:
Touchstone Exhibitions & Conferences Ltd. (London)
Tel: 44 (0) 332 0044
Fax: 44 (0) 81 332 0874.
Global Trade Point Network
Algeria: Algiers
Argentina: Santa Fe
Bolivia: Cochabamba
Brazil: Brasilia, Campinas, Florianapolis, Porto
Alegre
Cape Verde: Praia
Chile: Santiago
China: Shanghai
Colombia: Bogota, Cartagena
Cote d'Ivoire: Abidjan
Ecuador: Guayaquil
Egypt: Cairo
Estonia: Tallinn
Finland: Helsinki
France: Grenoble, Lille, Marseille
Gabon: Libreville
Germany: Rostock
Hungary: Budapest
India: New Delhi
Indonesia: two Trade Points
Kenya: Nairobi
South Korea: Seoul
Mauritania: Nouakchott
Morocco: Casablanca
Mozambique: Maputo
Philippines: Manila
Portugal: Lisbon, Porto
Russia: Moscow
Sao Tome and Principe: Sao Tome
Senegal: Dakar
Singapore: Singapore
Switzerland: Lausanne
Tanzania: Dar es Salaam
Thailand: Bangkok
Tunisia: Tunis
Ukraine: Kiev
United Kingdom: London
United States: Columbus, Ohio
Zambia: Lusaka
(###)
[END OF DISPATCH VOL 5, NO 36]
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US DEPARTMENT OF STATE DISPATCH
VOLUME 5, NUMBER 36, SEPTEMBER 5, 1994
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE:
1. U.S.-CARICOM Efforts To Support UN Security
Council Resolution 940--Acting Secretary Talbott,
Deputy Secretary of Defense Deutch, Joint Statement,
Fact Sheet
2. President Clinton Welcomes IRA Announcement To
End Violence in Northern Ireland
3. U.S. Goals at the Cairo Conference--Timothy E.
Wirth
4. Focus on Business: 1994 World Summit on Trade
Efficiency
ARTICLE 1
U.S.-CARICOM Efforts To Support UN Security Council
Resolution 940
Acting Secretary Talbott, Deputy Secretary of
Defense Deutch, Joint Statement, Fact Sheet
Acting Secretary Talbott and Deputy Secretary
Deutch
Opening remarks at a Department of State press
briefing, Washington, DC, August 31, 1994
(introductory remarks deleted).
Acting Secretary Talbott. I know there was and
continues to be quite a bit of interest, so we
thought we would take this opportunity to give you a
report on our one-day trip to Jamaica for the
CARICOM joint ministerial meeting and to the
Dominican Republic to meet with the leadership there
and also to visit the base of the multilateral
observer group that is going to be helping the
Dominicans enforce the sanctions along the
Dominican-Haitian border.
Let me just say a word or two by way of introduction
of Secretary Deutch. There has been a lot in the
commentary as well as the news articles about our
Haiti policy--about signals and messages, and those
two words appeared in a couple of the pieces that
reported on our trip yesterday. We make no bones
about the fact that we are, indeed, trying to send a
very clear signal and a very clear message,
primarily to the leadership in Port-au-Prince, and
we welcome the chance, quite candidly, to reinforce
that signal and that message again today.
UN Security Council Resolution 940 authorizes the
international community--the member states of the
United Nations--to use all necessary means to bring
about the departure of the dictators from Haiti and
to establish the conditions that allow the
restoration of democracy in Haiti.
What was significant about yesterday's meeting in
Jamaica was that the CARICOM countries committed
themselves as a group to support Resolution 940
and, very specifically, to the "all necessary
means" provision. Four of the seven member states
of CARICOM that have military forces committed
themselves to contribute and participate in what we
are calling the Multinational Force, or MNF. This
would be the force that would go into Haiti--either
under permissive or hostile circumstances--in order
to carry out the will of the international
community.
The four states that have committed to participate
are Jamaica, Barbados, Belize, and Trinidad and
Tobago. The other three--Antigua, Bahamas, and
Guyana--are involved in discussions with our
government, and we think it is quite possible--
indeed likely--that some of them also will
contribute. But the point I want to stress here is
that CARICOM, as a group, unanimously endorsed the
action in the next step.
Also, several of the CARICOM states that do not have
military forces are prepared, we believe, to
contribute police. Police will be an extremely
important part of the international effort in Haiti
after the departure of the dictators and the
restoration of democracy.
Deputy Secretary Deutch. My purpose here in
appearing with Secretary Talbott--our trip yesterday
was to make sure that everybody knew, both within
our government and especially in Haiti, that the
Defense Department and the State Department are
together on the policy that we are following. That
is a very important point, and it is true in all
particulars.
The second is the question of the message. Strobe
has said it very clearly. The way I say it is that
the Multinational Force is going to Haiti. The
issue is the circumstances under which that force
enters Haiti. It could be under a permissive
circumstance at the request of the legitimate
government with the authority of the UN Resolution,
or it can be under contested circumstances if the de
facto government--the illegal government--in Haiti
does not come to its senses and realize that the
world is determined to see a change in that
government-- back to the democratically elected
Government of Haiti.
Our interest in this purpose is very simple. The
reason this message is so important is that we would
like that intervention to take place with the
minimum number of casualties possible, both for the
Multinational Force and for the people of Haiti. It
is impossible to assure that there will be no
casualties, of course, in any venture of this kind.
We want to stress that the intervention--the
Multinational Force intervention--will have
overwhelming force associated with it so as to try
to minimize casualties, should it be needed. But
the best of all circumstances will be if the "de
factos" leave and the legitimate Government of Haiti
is able to come in with the Multinational Force and
have this transition to the legitimate government as
rapidly as possible.
The last point that I would like to make to you is
that our planning is in place. As Strobe has
described, we will integrate in our training,
beginning immediately at Roosevelt Roads in Puerto
Rico, the contingents which are coming from the
CARICOM nations and other contingents as they
arrive. That training will include planning
logistical support, command, control, and
communications--all the things which are required to
have an effective integrated force. But planning
also, importantly, includes a procedure for turning
over the responsibilities of the Multinational Force
to the subsequent phase of a United Nations Mission
in Haiti, the so-called UNMIH. So we believe that
we are ready, when the circumstances warrant, to
return the legitimate government to Haiti, and we
will do so as promptly and as effectively as we can-
-once again, with a minimum number of casualties and
hopefully in the absence of the de facto government
in that country.
Joint Statement
Text of a statement issued by CARICOM member
countries and representatives of the U.S. Government
at the conclusion of the meeting of CARICOM
policymakers and heads of the military and police
personnel, Kingston, Jamaica, August 30, 1994.
CARICOM countries and the United States met here
today and agreed to coordinate their efforts in
support of the implementation of United Nations
Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 940 designed to
facilitate the departure from Haiti of the military
leadership consistent with the Governors Island
Agreement, the prompt return of the legitimately
elected President and the restoration of the
legitimate authorities of the Government of Haiti,
and to establish and maintain a secure and stable
environment that will permit implementation of the
Governors Island Agreement. We anticipate that
other governments will be joining in this effort.
Staff officers from CARICOM countries will soon join
with their U.S. counterparts to finalise and
coordinate arrangements related to their
participation in the implementation of UNSCR 940.
Argentina and the United Kingdom have also agreed to
participate in this multinational coalition.
Argentina has already dispatched a staff officer to
Atlantic Command headquarters and United Kingdom
military personnel will assist in the training
programme for the Multinational Force (MNF).
We were briefed by United Nations personnel
attending the meeting on the current efforts by
United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros
Ghali to seek, through diplomatic means, to secure
the peaceful implementation of this resolution.
Even as the MNF is established and preparations
undertaken to participate in the United Nations
Mission in Haiti (UNMIH), our governments are united
in the hope that these latest efforts by the UN
Secretary General will succeed. However if, once
again, these efforts fail, then our governments are
equally united in their determination to take all
necessary means to carry out the Security Council
mandate to restore the democratic process in Haiti.
The meeting also discussed preparations for
deployment of the UNMIH which, in accordance with
UNSCR 940, will replace the Multinational Force once
a stable and secure environment has been
established. Twelve nations have already expressed
interest in participating in this operation,
including many of us represented here today. All of
us will continue to work with the United Nations,
and the Secretary General's Special Representative
both with respect to the UN peacekeeping role and to
the UNMIH.
The construction of viable democratic institutions
and support for acceptable economic and social
conditions for the Haitian people are tasks to which
we are fully committed and will make every effort to
achieve. Regrettably, these cannot be effectively
pursued until the political crisis in Haiti is
resolved.
UNSCR 940 represents the only remaining avenue in
the process of achieving the objectives of the
Governors Island Agreement, all others having
failed. We remain committed to working for the
success of that resolution.
We have just learnt that the Haitian military has
rejected the initiative of the United Nations
Secretary General.
We condemn the negative response of the Haitian
military to this latest diplomatic initiative by the
UN Secretary General and consider the murder of Fr.
Jean-Marie Vincent, well-known political activist
and supporter of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
as one more unwelcome and painful reminder of the
total unacceptability of the prevailing situation in
Haiti and of the need for urgent and decisive action
as set out in UNSCR 940.
Fact Sheet: Caribbean Community
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an association
of 12 independent English-speaking countries and 1
U.K. dependency. It was created under the Treaty of
Chaguaramas in 1973 to increase the economic and
eventual political integration of these states.
Through CARICOM, Caribbean leaders aim to develop
common political and economic positions in order to
make their countries a more effective regional unit.
CARICOM strongly supported UN Security Resolution
940 on Haiti in an August 12, 1994, statement. It
also is concerned about the role of Cuba in the
hemisphere and the future for the region in a post-
Castro era.
Divergent economic interests, however, have made it
difficult to implement coordinated policies. For
example, CARICOM has faced difficulties in having
its members implement the agreed-upon Common
External Tariff. Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago
are moving toward liberal trade policies, while the
smaller countries favor protectionist policies to
support domestic industries.
In July 1994, CARICOM created the Association of
Caribbean States (ACS), which includes CARICOM
members plus the non-English-speaking Caribbean
islands (including Cuba) and Central American
countries as well as Mexico, Colombia, and Cuba) and
Central American countries Venezuela. Key issues
such as the location of the Secretariat and funding
have not been resolved.
In its July 1994 Heads of Government Meeting in
Bridgetown, Barbados, CARICOM agreed to pursue a
trade arrangement such as the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It also agreed that
individual members could work bilaterally toward
such an agreement with the United States.
CARICOM members are concerned that NAFTA will divert
investment and trade toward Mexico, particularly in
the textile and apparel sector. In response, the
United States has proposed the Caribbean Basin
Interim Trade Program to give beneficiaries of the
Caribbean Basin Initiative essentially the same
treatment that Mexico receives under NAFTA on
textile and apparel products. In return,
beneficiaries would be asked to join the World Trade
Organization and agree to improve treatment of
investment, intellectual property rights, worker
rights, and the environment. The program is
designed to help countries in the region prepare for
the obligations of closer and fully reciprocal trade
relations with the United States.
CARICOM
Secretary General: Edwin Carrington (Trinidad and
Tobago)
Location of Secretariat: Georgetown, Guyana
Members: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas,
Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana
Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St.
Vincent and the Grenadines,Trinidad and Tobago
(###)
ARTICLE 2
President Clinton Welcomes IRA Announcement To End
Violence in Northern Ireland
Statement by President Clinton released by the White
House, Office of the Press Secretary, Washington,
DC, August 31, 1994.
I welcome today's watershed announcement by the IRA
that it has decided to end the 25-year campaign of
violence and pursue the path of peace. While much
work remains to be done, the IRA's decision to join
the political process can mark the beginning of a
new era that holds the promise of peace for all the
people of Northern Ireland.
I have just spoken with Prime Minister Albert
Reynolds of Ireland and Prime Minister John Major of
the United Kingdom to congratulate them for their
persistent efforts to bring this day about. Their
joint resolve to end the violence and pursue a
negotiated settlement has been crucial to the
progress made to date. Their historic Joint
Declaration last December, together with the Anglo-
Irish agreement of 1985, have built the foundation
for the new hope we have today. I am pleased that
the United States has been able to contribute to
this process of reconciliation.
We join with the Governments of Ireland and the
United Kingdom in the hope and expectation that
today's step will help bring a lasting and just
peace to Northern Ireland. I urge the IRA and all
who have supported it to fulfill the promise of
today's announcement to end the use and support of
violence, just as we continue to call on all parties
who have sought to achieve political goals through
violence to cease to do so. There must be a
permanent end to the violence.
The United States continues to stand ready to assist
in advancing the process of peace in Northern
Ireland. We hope that both traditions--Unionist and
Nationalist--will support the only real avenue to
peace, that of a negotiated settlement to the
conflict.
(###)
ARTICLE 3
U.S. Goals at the Cairo Conference
Timothy E. Wirth, Under Secretary for Global Affairs
Opening remarks at a Department of State press
briefing, Washington, DC, August 31, 1994
The goals of the United States at the Cairo
Conference are three-fold. In other words, we would
like to come out with three results.
A Program of Action
First is a broad, comprehensive program of action.
The world is sharing in Cairo a sense of urgency
about the population situation--a sense of urgency
about the fact that we will not beæable to reach
economic development, maintain political stability,
or sustain ecological structures in the world
without population stabilization. This is a sense
of urgency felt by countries all over the world--
East-West, North-South, rich-poor--and the program
of action is the template that will come out of
Cairo outlining what effective population
stabilization programs can be.
That program of action--product number one or
outcome number one--of Cairo has been more than 92%
agreed to. For those of you who are into UN
documentation, UN documents are done by consensus.
And going into the final negotiations, if areas of a
document are not agreed upon, they have brackets
around them. Going into the Rio Conference in 1992-
-the Earth Summit on Environment--nearly 50% of the
document was bracketed. Going into the Human Rights
Conference in the spring of 1993, nearly 30% of that
document was bracketed. Less than 8% of this Cairo
document is bracketed. So there has been an
enormous amount of work done and consensus reached
on just about every issue. I will come back to the
remaining issues.
Funding
The second outcome is funding. One of the goals of
the Cairo Conference is to make family planning
information and services available shortly after the
turn of the century to every woman and family in the
world who wants them. That will be an expensive
proposition.
Currently, spending is somewhere around $5 to $6
billion a year in the world on family planning. The
cost of making sure that family planning is
available to all individuals in the world who wish
to have it will be in the neighborhood of $15
billion. So there must be an increase around the
world.
The United States has begun to work very hard on
that. We have increased our own contribution to
close to $600 million per year directly into family
planning. The U.S. is the largest contributor in
the world. We have persuaded the Japanese to
increase their contribution from $40 million a year
to more than $400 million a year for population and
AIDS. The Canadians, the Australians, the European
Union, the British, the Nordics--have all increased
their contributions.
The World Bank has made population the number-one
agenda for them in 1994, and it was the lead issue
that Lou Preston, the President of the World Bank,
spoke about at the time of the 50th anniversary of
the Bretton Woods institutions. Mr. Preston will be
one of the opening speakers at the Cairo Conference.
We think we are making very significant progress on
our second goal, which is the development of the
financial resources necessary to provide family
planning to everybody in the world who wants it.
Program Delivery Mechanism
The third goal is the follow-up mechanism--the
delivery mechanism--for the program of action and
the funding, and a very ambitious program of
predominantly women-centered programs around the
world, focused not only on family planning but on
the full range of women's reproductive health care
services. Child mortality programs, the education
of children, and the role of women in economic
development are all part of that follow-up mechanism
which is being developed in each country. Some
countries, such as Indonesia, Egypt, and Bangladesh,
have very aggressive programs now. Others want to
learn from the successes of countries that have done
very well.
So there are three goals in Cairo--the program of
action, the funding, and the follow-up mechanism--
and we think that we are very close to achieving
very, very good results in all three.
Issues in the Program of Action
Finally, in the program of action, those items that
are bracketed or still in disagreement are
threefold: the issue of adolescence, the issue of
women's reproductive health care services, and the
issue of abortion.
Adolescence. On the issue of adolescence, I would
remind all of you that by the year 2000 there will
be more than 1 billion teenagers in the world--1
billion teenagers--moving into their reproductive
health care years. And it is because of the very
rapid growth of this group of people that there is a
sense of urgency.
While the world's rate of population increase has in
fact gone down from where it had been at a high
point, it is still well above the replacement rate,
and having so many people moving into the
childbearing years means that there is potentially a
very sharp increase in the rise of population--world
population. Today, it is increasing by almost 100
million per year. That is the equivalent of a
Mexico every year or a China every 10 years or, to
put it in our terms, a New York City every month.
The adolescence issue is very important. There has
been controversy surrounding the availability of
family planning information and services to
adolescents. The Canadians have been working on and
in the lead on language to sort through the
adolescence issue. We have had very extensive
discussions with Father Martin--the head of the Holy
See's Delegation--and with others, and I think that
the adolescence issue is well on the way toward
being resolved.
Women's Reproductive Health Care Services. The
second issue is theærange of reproductive health
care services available to women. This issue is of
concern to the European Union, which is floating a
draft proposal on that front which picks up on the
World Health Organization recommendations related to
reproductive health care services, and we believe
that that is well on its way toward being resolved.
Abortion. The third issue upon which there probably
will not be agreement at the Cairo Conference is how
to deal with the abortion question. Out of 189
countries who participate at the United Nations, 172
allow abortion in some form. Some allow the full
range of access to abortion. Others do so when the
health of the mother is in danger. Others do so in
the case only of rape and incest. It varies all the
way across the board.
It had been our proposal with Colombia in the spring
of 1994 that we deal with the abortion issue as part
of the reproductive health care services package and
say very clearly that reproductive health care
services would, of course, be made available in any
country based upon the framework of law, culture,
and religion existing in that country.
The UN has no right or authority to impose anything
on any country, and putting this in the context of
the laws of each country we think is the way in
which the abortion issue can be resolved to the
point where we can end up with that issue also, we
hope, close to agreement at the conference.
There is very good progress being made on our goals,
and the remaining three issues--adolescence,
reproductive health care services, and abortion--we
think are also on the way to being resolved,
especially the issues of adolescence and
reproductive health-care services.
Security in Cairo
Finally, Mike McCurry released yesterday a statement
by the United States on the issue of security in
Cairo. We have been working very closely with the
United Nations and with the Egyptian Government on
issues of security. It is clear that the Egyptian
Government has been anticipating this conference.
There was a successful, very large conference of
tourism people from all over the world held there
last spring. There were, despite allegations of
problems, no problems whatsoever. The American
embassy personnel in Cairo had no problems at all
for a long period of time, unlike almost any other
embassy in a large city any place else in the world.
The issues that have been illustrated on a security
measure occurred south of Cairo--halfway between
Cairo and Aswan--in an area that has been for 1,000
years the home of a number of more radical
revolutionary groups. That is where the problem
occurred the day before yesterday with the
unfortunate killing of the young Spanish student.
We have advised all Americans not to travel through
that area of Egypt. We have put out very careful
advisories to people on just being careful as you
would be in any large city, and the United States
has no intention of changing its plans, and we don't
know of other delegations who, onæthe basis of
security, have made changes in their plans.
We are monitoring the question--the issue--
obviously, very closely and are in very close touch
with as many of the U.S. NGOs--citizen groups--that
are going to Cairo that we know about, and have,
again as I said, worked very closely with the UN and
Egyptian authorities.
(###)
ARTICLE 4
Focus on Business
1994 World Summit on Trade Efficiency
World Summit and the Information Superhighway
Exciting business opportunities are likely to
mushroom in markets around the world in the wake of
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and North
American Free Trade Agreement trade liberalizations,
but how can entrepreneurs of small- and medium-sized
businesses participate in the emerging new ventures?
Can state-of-the-art technology and the information
superhighway bring new opportunity as close as your
computer keyboard? Where can U.S. entrepreneurs go
to network with key international public and private
decision-makers with the power to influence
marketing and information technology opportunities?
These questions--and more--will be answered at the
World Summit on Trade Efficiency in Columbus, Ohio,
October 17-21, 1994. It will focus on "trade
efficiency"--the use of modern information
technology to expand international trade. Co-
sponsored by the UN Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD), the city of Columbus, and
private sector business, this unique event will
attract national ministers of trade and mayors, as
well as 2,000 other public and private sector
leaders from the around the world.
The symposium will consist of four separate but
interlinked parts:
The UN International Symposium on Trade Efficiency
will bring together trade ministers and other senior
officials from 187 UNCTAD member countries to
discuss the application of new technology in inter-
national trade. This meeting will review practical
measures which can be taken in customs, business
information, trade procedures, banking/insurance,
transport, and telecommunications to facilitate
world trade.
At the Global Summit for Mayors, 300 mayors from
around the world will examine the new local
government/private sector partnership for
development. Hosted by Columbus Mayor Gregory
Lashutka, key topics will include municipal
infrastructure for trade, cities and global
competition, and the impact of international trade
and electronic commerce on urban employment.
The Global Executive Trade Summit will concentrate
on CEOs from small- and medium-sized businesses in
assessing opportunities and requirements for global
trade and building strategic advantages in a world
of networks. This summit will feature a variety of
distinguished speakers and panels on such topics as
global competition and the information revolution,
global trade alliances for small- and medium-sized
companies, global payments systems, and
restructuring business around trade efficiency.
Parallel to the summit will be regional focus
sessions on business strategies for Europe, Africa,
Asia, the Western Hemisphere, and the Middle East.
The World Trade Efficiency and Technology Exhibition
will demonstrate a wide spectrum of technologies and
applications for trade produced by many countries.
The emphasis will be on education, with "hands-on"
opportunities to try out a variety of electronic
commercial solutions for trade efficiency. More
than 150 prominent exhibitors--including the
European Union and major multinational corporations-
-will attend.
The Global Executive Trade Summit and World Trade
Efficiency and Technology Exhibition are open to
CEOs and other senior executives from the business
community. In addition, special plenary luncheons
and receptions, open to all participants, will offer
an opportunity for entrepreneurs to network with
other key public and private sector leaders
attending this unprecedented worldwide symposium.
Pioneering Project in Trade Efficiency
The symposium is linked to an innovative UNCTAD
program designed to lower the costs of conducting
international trade and to ease entry by small- and
medium-sized businesses into global commerce by
providing access to resources and information that
previously may have been unavailable to them. Trade
efficiency will lower the cost of international
trade deals by 10%--a savings of $100 billion each
year in transaction costs. This far exceeds the
cost savings from more conventional tariff and non-
tariff reductions.
What Is a "Trade Point"?
The new UNCTAD program uses Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) and other technologies to
establish a network of Trade Points around the
globe. These Trade Points provide electronic access
to representatives of all the participants needed to
engage in a trade transaction--from customs to
freight forwarders, bankers, insurers, and
transportation companies. Through the network,
companies can identify and compete in new markets
for their products, source components, and raw
materials, and advertise their goods electronically
in a multi-media catalog.
In February 1992, UNCTAD authorized the
establishment of a pilot program of 16 Trade Points.
In August 1992, Columbus, Ohio, was designated as
the site of the North American Trade Point (NATP).
Today, there are 46 Trade Points on five continents,
and UNCTAD estimates that the Global Trade Point
network could number in the hundreds by the end of
1995. The global network will be launched
officially at the World Summit on Trade Efficiency
and will be demonstrated at the Technology
Exhibition.
Technology Simplifies Trade
Rather than search for new solutions or invent new
technology, the Trade Point Network integrates
existing resources. It uses information technology
employing the UN Electronic Data Inter- change for
Administration, Commerce, and Transport (EDIFACT)
standards, which allow the computers of domestic and
international trading partners to communicate using
a standard document format.
The UN estimates that a normal maritime carrier
arrives at a port with nearly 500 pounds of paper
relating to the cargo. EDI automates and simplifies
the complex paperwork process currently required to
conduct international trade. More than 20,000 U.S.
businesses currently use EDI.
High-tech countries, such as the United States,
primarily will provide their services on-line over
computer networks and through existing trade
assistance organizations. But the Trade Point
global network also will benefit developing
countries--those who currently have limited access
to information services and technology. These
countries will establish multiple Trade Points
within their borders to offer "walk-in" access to
international markets. For example, Colombia's
pilot program was so successful, that its leaders
plan to open dozens of Trade Points, one in every
important city in the country.
UNCTAD officials believe that the Global Trade Point
Network creates a level playing field by allowing
companies, which traditionally would not have the
financial and human resources to engage in
international trade, to do so--inexpensively and
efficiently. Pilot centers initially were
established in Bangkok, Thailand; Tunis, Tunisia;
Cartagena, Colombia; and Columbus, Ohio. Currently,
about 60 countries--primarily in the developing
world--are in the process of establishing Trade
Points. The summit will discuss ways in which Trade
Points and other new information and technology
mediums can help smaller firms tap business
opportunities more efficiently in the expanding
global marketplace.
U.S. Delegation
Commerce Secretary Ron Brown will lead the official
U.S. delegation to the UN conference. As host Trade
Minister, Secretary Brown will make welcoming
remarks during the opening plenary of the event.
Noting the great significance of this event for the
U.S. business community, he said: "By bringing
trade efficiency to the doorstep of all nations,
large and small, the symposium will open new avenues
for commerce and development."
Other key speakers at the summit will include U.S.
Customs Commissioner George Weise, UN Secretary
General Boutros Boutros Ghali, and a variety of
senior-level public and private sector leaders from
around the world. Key U.S. Government sponsors of
the summit include the State Department, U.S. Agency
for International Development, Small Business
Administration, and Export-Import Bank.
Columbus: Crossroads of Trade
Columbus, Ohio, was selected as the international
conference site because of its prominence as a locus
of some of the largest data bases, software
companies, and computer networks in the world. The
city, in the words of Mayor Lashutka, "is becoming
America's premier inland port city for international
trade. Mayors will want to see how we have combined
our physical and electronic resources to become a
key distribution point for goods and services in
North America."
Further Information
As trade barriers fall and the use of electronic
commerce grows, this event will be of special
importance to CEOs and other senior business
executives. For further information, including
registration costs for the private sector portion of
the event, companies in the U.S. and elsewhere in
the Western Hemisphere should contact:
Bannister & Associates
Tel: 614-895-1355
Fax: 614-895-3466
Companies with operations or affiliates overseas may
contact:
Touchstone Exhibitions & Conferences Ltd. (London)
Tel: 44 (0) 332 0044
Fax: 44 (0) 81 332 0874.
Global Trade Point Network
Algeria: Algiers
Argentina: Santa Fe
Bolivia: Cochabamba
Brazil: Brasilia, Campinas, Florianapolis, Porto
Alegre
Cape Verde: Praia
Chile: Santiago
China: Shanghai
Colombia: Bogota, Cartagena
Cote d'Ivoire: Abidjan
Ecuador: Guayaquil
Egypt: Cairo
Estonia: Tallinn
Finland: Helsinki
France: Grenoble, Lille, Marseille
Gabon: Libreville
Germany: Rostock
Hungary: Budapest
India: New Delhi
Indonesia: two Trade Points
Kenya: Nairobi
South Korea: Seoul
Mauritania: Nouakchott
Morocco: Casablanca
Mozambique: Maputo
Philippines: Manila
Portugal: Lisbon, Porto
Russia: Moscow
Sao Tome and Principe: Sao Tome
Senegal: Dakar
Singapore: Singapore
Switzerland: Lausanne
Tanzania: Dar es Salaam
Thailand: Bangkok
Tunisia: Tunis
Ukraine: Kiev
United Kingdom: London
United States: Columbus, Ohio
Zambia: Lusaka
(###)
[END OF DISPATCH VOL 5, NO 36]
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