Speeches 2006
October 26, 2006
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Charles S. Shapiro at Panama Week
Good Afternoon. It is a privilege to join this distinguished group as we look towards the New Panama. Minister Ferrer, General Renzi, Ambassador Sosa, Assistant Secretary Hernández, it is a pleasure to join you here today to celebrate the U.S.-Panama relationship as we look together at how we can strengthen our bilateral ties through economic opportunities. USPA has played an important role through its mission of strengthening the bonds of cooperation between the United States and Panama and creating business opportunities for business leaders of both nations.
I think the first order of business is for me to congratulate the Panamanian people and the government of Martin Torrijos on a successful Canal Expansion referendum this past Sunday. Through an orderly and transparent process, validated by the OAS observer mission, Panama again demonstrated its commitment to the peaceful expression of the will of the Panamanian people through a transparent, democratic process. This is a tremendous example for the region and the hemisphere.
One of my first assignments as a diplomat was the night of September 7, 1977. I was given one of the most the delicate and crucial tasks of my career. My mission that night was to serve as an usher, I am not making this up, at the Organization of American States headquarters building. That night all the heads of state of the independent nations of the Americas gathered to observe the official signing of the Panama Canal Treaties. I remember well all the dire predictions from those in the U.S. who opposed the transfer of the Canal. What a great pleasure it was me in Panama earlier this month to see the canal operating better than ever, and the modernized railway with its new equipment, and the containers ports which weren’t even a dream in 1977. Everyone here knows it but I want to repeat it: the Canal is more profitable, more efficient, and operates with fewer accidents or injuries to the work force than ever before.
Panama is a good friend of the United States, an important partner in democracy, and an economic leader in the hemisphere. As a major artery for world commerce, the Panama Canal is clearly vital to the economic growth and prosperity of our two countries – and to the economic growth of China, Chile, Japan and much of the rest of the world. Panamanians should take pride in all they have accomplished with the Canal since the successful implementation of the Torrijos-Carter Treaty.
The Panamanian people through their votes on Sunday have decided to look to the future. We know that at this important moment in the history of the Canal, the Panamanian people and their government are not satisfied to be stewards of this unique and critical element of the hemisphere’s commercial infrastructure, but to transform into reality their a vision of what Panama -- the Canal, the railway, the ports, and above all the nation -- can become as a link between continents and distribution center for world commerce.
Earlier this month I visited Panama for the first time since before the handover of the Canal. I was amazed at the sheer amount of development and growth Panama has seen in the last several years and saw first hand the proof of Panama’s progress since the restoration of democracy nearly 17 years ago. Each morning I jogged along the Avenida Balboa amazed by the high rises, modern shopping malls, and banks. I saw the rebirth of the Casco Colonial. I couldn’t help but be impressed by all the tangible signs of Panama’s prosperity. It was an inspiring confirmation of the benefits of Panama’s commitment to a free and open market economy.
I also saw what a truly globalized nation Panama is as I passed churches, cathedrals, mosques, synagogues and temples. How fitting that a nation that was born with globalization, which is betting on the certainty of increased international trade and exchange, is itself the most globalized of nations.
The U.S. has been a partner and friend in Panama’s growth, and we want to see an even stronger and more prosperous Panama in the years to come. It is my hope that next year when we next meet for Panama Week we will celebrate the implementation of a U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement. We need to finish our work and get the two governments out of the way so that our private sectors can get to work making our economies grow and creating wealth, jobs and security.
The challenge for all of us – for the governments of Panama and those of much of the Hemisphere it to build the link between the macro and the micro. Panama is has macroeconomic data to make the USPA, the Ministry of Finance and even the IDB beam from ear to ear-- $4,500 per capita GDP, growth in the first half of 2006 at about 8%, (beating last year’s 7% growth), trade with the U.S. up 28% so far this year, and unemployment under 10%.
But citizens – we the voters of all countries – live in the micro-economy. Sixty percent of Panamanians are enjoying the benefits of the nation’s booming service-based economy prosperity. But this prosperity has yet to reach the other 40 %. With the bold plans for the expansion of the Canal, the Torrijos government is trying to do just that. President Torrijos outlined the many challenges ahead for Panama as it begins to expand not only the Canal, but, we hope, also the opportunities for economic development to reach the under-privileged.
When Peruvian President Alan Garcia was here earlier this month he said that Peru needs two things: A free trade agreement with the United States and “un TLC adentro,” an internal free trade agreement within Peru. By that he was trying to convey the necessity of modernizing Peru and its institutions. He said that there are businesses in Lima that cannot conduct business with enterprises on the other side of town, let alone with the United States or Asia. But that TLC adentro requires not just reform at the national level but also at the provincial and municipal levels. It means administrative processes that issue licenses, certificates, and titles, easily and quickly – and without the payment of mordidas. It means having justices of the peace at the local level who deliver justice. And it means schools that do not operate on double or triple session, but educate children for real jobs in the formal economy.
I am convinced that the most radical, most revolutionary ideology is democracy. Real democracy where all citizens are equal before law, where wealth does not bring privilege, where there is social mobility so that citizens can hope that their lives will be better than their parents and their children’s lives even better. Democracy means inclusion – both inclusion in our democratic processes and inclusion in the formal economies of our nations. We must end social exclusion whether it is based on gender or ethnicity or whether it comes from living in remote areas where government services lag behind. All of our nations need the brainpower of all of our citizens. We need to unlock this brainpower and put it to work.
I salute the decision of the government of Panama for its decision to put its vision for the expansion of the canal before the voters in the referendum. All of our nations would discuss the real challenges before our countries rather than the superficial issues that too often passes for national debate. When I was in Panama I tried to understand why people would oppose something that to me seemed to be so obviously necessary. The answer was mistrust of government. Not of this government but of government in general. Fear that a multibillion dollar project would be too ripe a target for graft and mismanagement.
The Torrijos government, in conjunction with the Canal Authority and the Panamanian voters who overwhelmingly supported the proposal, now has not just the opportunity – but the obligation - to prove to the naysayers that they were and are wrong. It is now up to the government of Panama to bring this project in on time and on budget, to let contracts in such a transparent manner that there can be no even a whiff of influence peddling, insider deals or conflict of interest.
But let me be clear. Fighting corruption is not just something that depends on the government and he courts. It also requires the commitment of a nation’s citizens who are willing to bear the civic responsibility of joining together in to join in free associations and express their views. One example of such a group is the Alianza Ciudadana Pro Justicia (ACPJ), which is working to promote efficiency, transparency and independence within the Panamanian judicial system. ACPJ is working to make Panama not only a better place to live, and a better place to do business. ACPJ monitors the status of important court cases in order to hold the judicial system accountable. I was as impressed by the commitment of these Panamanian citizens as I was by the commercial development along the Avenida Balboa.
I would like to go back to that night in September 1977. One point I didn’t mention was that of the heads of state and government who were present, over half wore their military uniforms. Today there is only one president who was not democratically elected and who wears a uniform. The Americas – nuestra América – has been transformed, and it is continuing to transform itself. Panama too has changed and with the referendum approved by the voters will continue to transform itself. The challenge is there for all of us. We must transform our countries and in so doing link the macro with the micro, bring the benefits of the modern economic and of democratic governance to all of our citizens.