Speeches and Remarks

Ambassador Moriarty’s Remarks at the American Chamber of Commerce Event on Public Private Partnerships

August 16, 2009

I want to thank you all for having me here today.  I have enjoyed the opportunity to learn from the presentations we heard this morning as well as the excellent questions and comments that followed.

I have been looking at public policy for almost 35 years now.  I have been looking at many countries wrestle with the question: What is development?  What is progress?  That latter sentence almost has a 19th Century feel about it.  We don’t really talk about progress that much anymore.  In my country, if you talk about progress, you get into a philosophical debate.  Is progress more economic development?  Is progress making the country greener?

Here in Bangladesh, I would say that question is a lot more pressing.  We are in a country where 40 percent of the people go to bed hungry every night, where 40 percent of the people are chronically malnourished and stunted.  We are in a country where 40 percent of the people cannot read.  We are in a country where too many mothers die in childbirth, where too many infants die before they reach their first birthday.
 
Now many people will come and start arguing about questions of distribution of income.  I firmly believe that, to put it simply, the pie here is not big enough.  There has to be economic growth.  There has to be a bigger pie to satisfy the legitimate demands of all 155 million Bangladeshis.
 
On that score Bangladesh can be proud of its strong economic progress over the past couple decades. Economic growth is expected to remain around 6% this year, at a time when many countries are struggling to post any economic growth.
 
But those of us who are believers in Bangladesh’s potential—and I am a believer in Bangladesh’s potential—believe that Bangladesh can, and should, perform even better.

I applaud the government’s initiative to harness the potential of private-public partnerships and to provide adequate funding in this year’s budget.

But having this great idea and putting it into the budget was only the first step.  Now the government must focus on implementation, implementation, and implementation.  And you, as business leaders, should help them.

How well the government implements this program will determine whether the public-private partnership initiative remains just a great idea, or whether it becomes a transformative engine of growth that pushes Bangladesh’s economic growth above that 6% limit and begins raising incomes and standards of living.
 
I think AMCHAM members can play an important role in guiding the government, providing advice and encouragement.  I think we have heard a dialogue here today that is absolutely terrific.  I think everybody has laid out the obstacles and I think we have all heard some very good methods of overcoming those obstacles.
 
One of the things I think the AMCHAM can do is to help the government prioritize the PPP projects to be sure that limited resources—time, attention and money—are devoted to those projects that promise the greatest impact, the quickest return.
 
Let’s face it: There is an especially pressing need for improvements in infrastructure, particularly energy and communications.  Without the necessary infrastructure, even the hardest-working farmers, the smartest entrepreneurs, and the best factories will not be able to sell their products.

The government’s investment in infrastructure has simply not been able to keep up with the pace of growth in the private sector.  As a result, infrastructure is one of the leading constraints on Bangladesh’s growth today.
 
The government must move swiftly to reverse this trend, to ensure that infrastructure becomes a facilitator for economic growth rather than a constraint.
 
Improvements in the energy sector, for example, would have powerful knock-on effects for industry, for households and for generating new and higher-skilled employment.
 
Thankfully, there is a consensus in this country that energy is a priority.  But I am concerned that, even with that consensus, there is still an environment of distrust and suspicion that holds back progress.  We have heard this in remarks today.  We have heard the bureaucracy attacking the politicians and businessmen attaching the bureaucracy.  There is a lot of suspicion out for a variety of historical reasons.  What I think we need to recognize is that rather than rehashing history there is now a chance to move forward, to get public-private partnerships right.
 
For example, if Chevron and the Government work together to increase Bangladesh’s capacity to produce power, some people will continue to insist that is evidence of a conspiracy.
 
If the Governments of Bangladesh and India sign a regional power sharing deal, some people will say that is some sort of a conspiracy.
 
I would argue: that is not conspiracy, it is partnership.
 
If we want to increase power production in Bangladesh, we need to welcome these partnerships, which will save money and contribute to economic growth.  Of course, we want to insist on appropriate transparency and accountability, but we should welcome arrangements—partnerships—where all sides benefit.
 
As Bangladesh moves forward in the coming years, the country faces a fundamental decision:
 Will Bangladesh settle for a growth rate of 5 to 6 percent, which will be enough to show progress?  Bangladesh has made great progress in the past two decades.
 
Or, should Bangladesh aspire to that 7 to 10 percent growth rate, the rate that will begin bringing people out of poverty, raising literacy and standards of living throughout the country, begin giving people better and more productive lives?
 
I think that the leaders here in this room know how that question should be answered.
 
I have confidence that, with the wisdom we have heard here today, Bangladesh will not only develop a good Public Private Partnership Act, but also implement it effectively and push Bangladesh over that threshold of transformational growth.

Thank you.