*EPF406 10/24/2002
Transcript: Powell Cites Education, Open Markets as Key to Development
(Secretary of State joins Mexico's Foreign Secretary at APEC event) (4620)

The forum meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) being held in Los Cabos, Mexico, during the week of October 21 have reinforced the idea that "it's so important ... for all of us to draw closer together, to work harder to eliminate poverty, to work harder to improve our economies, to work harder to reduce trade barriers," says Secretary of State Colin Powell.

At an October 23 virtual trade mission called "Voices of the Future of APEC," Powell joined Mexico's Foreign Secretary Jorge Castaneda to answer questions from students and to highlight the benefits of cooperation between APEC member nations on a wide variety of trade issues. Such cooperation will help spur development efforts in many countries, Powell observed. He also stressed that as prosperity and democracy take root, societies become more stable and much less prone to generating terrorist movements.

The open markets and open political systems that APEC depends upon are even more urgently needed in view of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States, Powell added. "And so I think as part of our counter-terrorism effort -- we're cooperating well, we're exchanging intelligence, we're exchanging law enforcement information, we're going after terrorist cells -- but it's also important to realize that we have to improve life for all of our people so that our people are more comfortable in their societies and will not tolerate terrorist activity," he said.

Responding to a query about whether APEC can benefit people in rural areas, Powell noted that APEC is taking steps to help provide rural communities with Internet connectivity as a means of furthering development, reducing the isolation of small villages, and enhancing education. "To use the power of the information revolution, to leapfrog into rural areas, all you really need is a laptop [computer] such as you have, access to the Internet, and some [electrical] power, and you can bring [in] the outside world, you can teach youngsters to read, you can teach more senior people how to acquire new skills, you can use it for commerce," he explained.

Because the costs of Internet access are decreasing and electricity is more readily available than in the past, "the potential is great, and what we have to do is make sure that we have public and private partnerships -- not just the government, but public and private partnerships coming together, the public sector, the private sector -- to make the necessary investment," Powell said. He described the Internet, with its vast communications capability, as a "marvelous technology," and emphasized that "we have to use it to benefit all elements of our society."

Castaneda, too, focused on education as a vital tool for development. "I think the important issue of education is [not only] how important it is personally, but also how important it is for a country," he said. "We in Mexico today have to devote ourselves centrally to education; there is nothing more important to this country ... than education. It's going to make it more possible for young people like you here to advance on a personal level, to achieve your personal goals, but much more importantly, it's going to make it possible in the long term for Mexico to become the country we want it to become and the country it deserves to become: a country of less inequality, a country of smaller social gaps, a country of greater opportunity for everybody."

Powell echoed that view, telling students that his colleague's message "applies to every APEC country and it applies to every country in the world." Education, he said, is now "even more of a requirement" for young people than ever before, if they are "to acquire the skills that are going to be demanded ... in the 21st century."

On the subject of immigration, Castaneda indicated that Mexican President Vicente Fox regards the issue as "a central part" of U.S.-Mexico relations. Fox "has raised the immigration issue to the first level, to the primary level, and has begun with President Bush, soon after they both took office, a process which will be complicated, which will be long, but which we hope ... will come to fruition, to reach agreements between the United States and Mexico on immigration issues that are of great importance to both our countries," Castaneda said. Moreover, "when we do reach an agreement, it could become an example for other countries for the developing world that are emigration-generating countries and countries from the developed world that are immigration-receiving countries," he said. "We think that the type of agreement the United States and Mexico can reach on this issue will then become something that we can work on, that other countries can usefully follow."

Powell, whose parents emigrated to the United States from Jamaica, agreed. "The goals that Secretary Castaneda laid out for President Fox are mutual goals, shared by President Bush," he pointed out. "We are committed to doing everything we can to settle the immigration disputes that have existed for a long period of time. America is a nation of immigrants -- my parents were immigrants. We are enriched by immigrants." He concluded his remarks by declaring that the Bush Administration "looks forward to continuing our work with Secretary Castaneda and with President Fox toward that mutual goal."

Following is a transcript of Powell's and Castaneda's remarks:

(begin transcript)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(Los Cabos, Mexico)

For Immediate Release
October 24, 2002

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Mexican Foreign Secretary Jorge Castaneda
at the virtual trade mission "Voices of the Future of APEC" event

October 23, 2002
Sheraton Hacienda Del Mar Hotel
Los Cabos, Mexico

(7:00 p.m. local time)

MS. ELIZONDO: So, on behalf of the young people of 21 Member Economies, I'm happy to welcome Secretary Castaneda and Secretary Powell (applause). We are now going to take a couple of questions, so (inaudible), you can take the first question, go ahead.

QUESTION: Hello, My name is Daniela Garza, I come from Monterrey, Mexico, and I study in the Monterrey Tech. Secretary Powell, we know you were in our Latin APEC neighbor, Peru, during the September 11th events. What would be the greatest contribution Latin America could make for the improvement of the APEC member economies and their security?

SECRETARY POWELL: I think it's so important in the aftermath of September 11th for all of us to draw closer together, to work harder to eliminate poverty, to work harder to improve our economies, to work harder to reduce trade barriers. And the reason for that is with these kinds of initiatives, we make it possible for trade to generate jobs, trade to make life better for people. When people see hope in their future, when they see an opportunity to make a living that will allow them to have food on the table and a roof over the heads of their family, and they can educate their children, like you're being educated, then there's no room for anger, there's no room for the kind of terror activity we see, because people will not tolerate that kind of activity. And so you might think that terrorism and economic development are dissimilar to each other, but not really. Societies that are growing, societies that are happy, tend to not foster individuals who will be that disoriented and that disenchanted.

And societies that are stable because there is trade, because there is democracy, those societies will not tolerate that kind of terrorist activity within their midst. And so I think as part as our counter-terrorism effort -- we're cooperating well, we're exchanging intelligence, we're exchanging law enforcement information, we're going after terrorist cells -- but it's also important to realize that we have to improve life for all of our people so that our people are comfortable in their societies and will not tolerate terrorist activity.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Hi, how are you? My name is Andres Chamarro. I am representing the United States, and I come from South Plantation High School. Mr. Castaneda, the DECA programs in the Detroit, Michigan, area have sent this e-mail to you. The WTO works by strong rules and enforcement. But APEC can only work by cooperation and consensus. Which system, rules or consensus, can accomplish the most good for the poor developing countries?

SECRETARY CASTANEDA: That's a very good question, Andres. What a question ... (Answers in Spanish.) In English, very quickly. Although I think that obviously a consensus and working through consensus is always preferable, it is also true that a system of rules, a rules-based system for trade, for the environment, for labor standards, for human rights, for democracy, for a series of issues, in the long term is more favorable to countries like Mexico. It's more foreseeable, it's more stable, it lasts longer, and I think this is what Mexico has been striving for, and we will continue to do so, in the WTO, and throughout all other international organizations and conferences.

QUESTION: Thank you very much.

MS. ELIZONDO: Mr. Powell, I believe we have an e-mail question sent from somewhere around, directed to you, so I present Pedro Carril.

QUESTION: Good evening. My name is Pedro Carril, and I'm a teacher at Monterrey Tech. In looking to bring the benefits of globalization and increased technology to rural areas in Mexico, Monterrey Tech has established close to 150 different community centers throughout the country and also in Central America. Each learning center is equipped with high-speed Internet connections that provide rural communities the chance to connect with the rest of Mexico and further their community development and also their education. Today we received an e-mail from Monterrey Tech Community Learning Center, located in Doctor Arroyo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. This e-mail has been submitted by Miss Margarita Landeros, and I've translated it, and it reads as follows: Secretary Powell, how can organizations such as APEC benefit, or be of benefit, to people in rural areas?

SECRETARY POWELL: One of the initiatives APEC has is very much in line with what you have described you're doing at Monterrey Tech. To use the power of the information revolution, to leapfrog out into the rural areas, all you really need is a laptop such as you have, access to the Internet, and some power, and you can bring education, you can information, you can bring the outside world, you can teach youngsters to read, you can teach more senior people how to acquire new skills, you can use it for commerce. And so I am a great believer in the power of information tech to transform society. The challenge now is to get it out of the cities and into the rural areas.

But with the cost going down, with power being made more available, cellular telephones helping, so you don't need wires any longer, the potential is great, and what we have to do is make sure that we have public and private partnerships -- not just the government, but public and private partnerships coming together, the public sector, the private sector -- to make the necessary investment. And I had some experience with this in my work before coming back into government, when I was working with youth groups in America. And we were working with IBM, with Hewlett Packard, with Compaq, with Dell, with all of them, to get this technology out into our rural areas, into our inner cities, and open up a world for children who see only their own neighborhood and wonder if anybody cares about them. The Internet can show there are others who care, there are people at Monterrey Tech who care about people in the most rural village in Mexico, just as there are people in Washington, D.C., who care about the most rural village in West Virginia or a school in the inner city of Washington. Marvelous technology; we have to use it to benefit all elements of our society.

QUESTION: Hi, my name is Nurah Azrini. I represent Malaysia, and I am studying at Universitie Technologie Petronas. I would like to address this question to both gentlemen. One of you is a former general, and one of you is a former philosopher.

SECRETARY POWELL: Which is which? (Laughter.)

QUESTION: What experiences in your past careers and younger days have you brought forth into your new career as diplomats?

SECRETARY POWELL: You first. This I want to hear ...

SECRETARY CASTANEDA: I'm the philosopher, right? (Laughter.) Firstly, I'm not sure I'd say former. I hope to return to academia when I'm through, and I hope to try and retain what I learned in academia during the time I'm here. I think clearly what one comes with to this sort of post is what one learned before. There is very little on-the-job training here; you use what you have. And for me, the possibility of using the skills and the experience I acquired as a teacher, for many years -- for nearly 20 years -- in many universities, among them the Monterrey Tech, the last years in universities in the United States and in Mexico, mainly, have been very useful: the notion of discussing things, of debating issues, of looking at them from different points of view, of studying them carefully, and then, of course, reaching a conclusion. That's the big difference, perhaps -- in academia you can go on debating and discussing endlessly, which I like to do with my friend Colin Powell (laughter), but unfortunately every now and then we have to reach conclusions. And I think that would be the single most important experience, and at the same time the single most important difference. And I'm very happy to be able to have come to this job with that training, and I hope to go back to the jobs I had before when this one is over. But, I'm not the general -- Colin's the general.

SECRETARY POWELL: And he's still teaching, and I learn from him every time we're together. My background, of course, was as a soldier. My whole adult life, and in fact, most of my college years, were spent preparing to be a soldier. So roughly from the age of 17 until I retired in my mid-50s, I was in the military. And in the military I led a very disciplined life, focusing on problem-solving, how to find out what the objective is you're trying to accomplish, how to apply resources to it, how to take care of people -- how to train and educate people -- for a mission. It gave me wonderful exposure to the whole world; I traveled around the world. And also as part of my military career, I was exposed to international relations, as National Security Advisor to President Reagan and as Deputy National Security Advisor to President Reagan before I became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. So I came to the position of Secretary of State, the third American General ever to do that -- General Marshall, General Haig, and now General Powell -- and I came to this position with an understanding of the political process, international affairs, a good understanding of what war is about, and why war should be avoided if peace is possible, but when you fight a war, then fight it decisively. But we should try to avoid war whenever possible, and that remains my philosophy and the philosophy of my government and my President. And so problem-solving is drilled into me, and I have benefited from being with philosophers such as Jorge.

SECRETARY CASTANEDA: Sounds good to me.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Hello. My name is Armando (inaudible) from (inaudible). I study at the Tech de Monterrey. Secretary Castaneda and Secretary Powell, we know education is the basis for development. Your professional success is our source of inspiration. I would like if either of you have any words of encouragement for the youth of APEC.

SECRETARY CASTANEDA: (Answers in Spanish.) In English, very briefly. I think the important issue of education is how important it is personally, but also how important it is for a country. We in Mexico today have to devote ourselves centrally to education; there is nothing more important to this country, to our country, than education. It's going to make it possible for young people like you here to advance on a personal level, to achieve your personal goals, but much more importantly, it's going to make it possible in the long term for Mexico to become the country we want it to become and the country it deserves to become: a country of less inequality, a country of smaller social gaps, a country of greater opportunities for everybody. The only way we're going to achieve this is through education, and we all have to make an enormous effort in Mexico to invest more in education, to pour more money and effort and time and resources into education, to truly make it the central goal of our country and, of course, of the Fox Administration.

SECRETARY POWELL: What the Secretary said applies to every APEC country and it applies to every country in the world. Education: it is even more of a requirement in the 21st century, in order to acquire the skills that are going to be demanded of you in the 21st century. Information technology: every one of the APEC countries will grow in sophistication over time. The needs of business, the needs of government, the needs of health care will all become more demanding, more technical, more sophisticated over time. And education has to be a continuing thing, and you're starting now. But in addition to education, all young people have to develop early in life, and those here today have it, those habits of self-discipline, and believing in yourself, believing in your country, believing in your society, willing to work hard, willing to have a dream, willing to accept failure in life -- and I love to talk to young people about this -- life is not all success -- failure comes. How do you deal with failure? You learn from it, you throw it over your shoulder and you never look at it again and you never think about it again. How you do gain experience? You gain experience through failure. So as you educate yourselves, as you develop the skills that you need for the future, also develop those personal habits of discipline, of sticking to an objective, of never being thwarted in your desires, of always having a dream, working toward that dream, experiencing failure and learning how to deal with failure -- throw it over your shoulder and move on. Tomorrow will always be a little a bit better.

QUESTION: Thank you very much.

QUESTION: Hello, my name is Jorge (inaudible) Garcia. I am Mexican, and I study at the Tech de Moneterrey campus, Guadalajara. And Mr. Castaneda, I have a question. There are those that regard APEC as an organization with a reputation of speech without action. What is Mexico doing in terms of its foreign policies to ensure that international cooperation with APEC does not become solely about politics and economics, but also takes into account social issues?

SECRETARY CASTANEDA: (Answers in Spanish.) Secondly, and most importantly, in addition to emphasizing social issues in all of the ministerial meetings and all of the documents that will be coming out of this Summit, this APEC Summit, the Fox Administration, the Ministry of Trade, and ourselves in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, have insisted very much on not only specific, concrete achievements which are important to get out of a meeting like this, but also the very fact of these meetings, the very fact that 20 leaders come together, exchange points of view, exchange opinions about the world situation, like last year immediately after 9/11, this year immediately after the terrorist incidents in Bali and in the Philippines. This is enormously useful for Mexico, but for all of the leaders meeting here, to have the possibility of listening to each other, of exchanging points of view, of reaching agreements on very important issues, such as how to wage the fight against terrorism; such as how to facilitate trade and at the same time, wage the fight, the war against terrorism; how to move forward on the Doha development agenda in the next WTO ministerial meeting in Cancun in September -- how APEC can contribute to that. These are fundamental issues.

They are not perhaps specific, concrete achievements that will emerge from this meeting, but in a sense they're more important. In international affairs one always has to take the long view, not look for immediate, spectacular, concrete results out of each meeting -- sometimes they can take place; many of the meetings Presidents Fox and Bush have held over the last two years, there have been concrete achievements -- but that's not always the case. What is sometimes more important is the long view, and the way that you begin to build a world that is better for all of us. I think that's what we're trying to emphasize more than anything else.

QUESTION: Hello, I am Daniela Reyna, from Monterrey, Mexico, and I represent SELIDER Leadership Foundation. Secretary Powell, young people are always learning from leaders' actions, but, switching places, what is the greatest challenge a world leader like yourself foresees for my generation?

SECRETARY POWELL: You're entering a fascinating 21st-century world as you complete your education and go out into life. You're entering a world where the great ideological clashes of the last 50 or 60 years are gone. It's not communism versus democracy or democracy versus fascism -- that battle is over; democracy won. Your great challenge now will be how to harvest the benefits of democracy and economic reform. How, as the Secretary said earlier, to bring education to the people in your countries -- all of the APEC countries represented here. How to make sure that as wealth is created through open trade and free trade, the wealth goes throughout the society; how do you turn that wealth over and over and over in a society so that it benefits all members of the society.

For all of the nations of the world, especially those nations that are developing, your great challenge will be to help put in place rule of law, help put in place systems of accountability in government and in private life, so that people have confidence in their leaders. You have to train yourself to be a leader who people will look up to, who will be a role model, who will live a life that will be an inspiration to other citizens. You will have to take advantage of this information revolution that we talked about earlier and see that it does benefit all the people in your society. You have to be willing to not only be successful in your business or in whatever trade you might enter, but also make sure that you live a life of service, as well, giving back to the community that has given you the opportunities that you enjoy, all of you here in this room today.

And so, start to prepare yourself to take risks as a leader, to take advantage of what the conflicts of the last 50 years have now left in place, a foundation that the world is looking at to base the rule of law on democracy and free market systems -- which really work, and other systems do not really work -- and make sure you build on that base and make sure you protect it, by putting in place good governance, by committing yourself to civil society, but above all, as you become personally successful, make sure you give something back to the society in service to the nation -- either in politics or taking care of people in need, but just make sure you give back as a leader.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Good evening. My name is Bulat Mustafin. I am from Russia, and I am attending PrepaTec of Monterrey, Mexico. Secretary Castaneda, immigration between Mexico and the United States of America has always been an issue. Other APEC member economies, such as Australia, Indonesia, Russia and China, also face this challenge. How would you apply your personal leadership and knowledge to support these member economies, and how can APEC help resolve these issues of immigration?

SECRETARY CASTANEDA: As you know, the immigration issue, as you've pointed out, is present in many countries in APEC, and beyond APEC -- it's an issue in Europe, it's an issue in South America, in the Mediterranean. In the case of Mexico and the United States, which is the issue that I can address most directly, President Fox has made the question of immigration a central part of his view of the U.S.-Mexico relations, of the bilateral relationship. He has raised the immigration issue to the first level, to the primary level, and has begun with President Bush, soon after they both took office, a process which will be complicated, which will be long, but which we hope, we are sure will come to fruition, to reach agreements between the United States and Mexico on immigration issues that are of great importance to both our countries.

President Fox has also insisted on trying to defend our Mexican nationals in the United States more effectively than we have been able to in the past, but he mainly acknowledged that the only way that this could be done effectively in the long term is through agreements between both countries, between both nations. And we think, of course, that when we do reach an agreement -- and I'm sure we will, largely thanks to the importance that President Bush and Secretary Powell have attached to this issue -- when we do reach an agreement, it could become an example for other countries from the developing world that are emigration-generating countries and countries from the developed world that are immigration-receiving countries. We think that the type of agreement the United States and Mexico can reach on this issue will then become something that we can work on, that other countries can usefully follow. And we're very, very optimistic about it.

SECRETARY POWELL: Can I just add a word? The goals that Secretary Castaneda laid out for President Fox are mutual goals, shared by President Bush. We are committed to doing everything we can to settle the immigration disputes that have existed for a long period of time. America is a nation of immigrants -- my parents were immigrants. We are enriched by immigrants. We could not survive without immigration, and so we want to remain a society that is open, a society that encourages people to come, to visit, to perhaps live for the rest of their lives in the United States, to become Americans, or to come and enjoy and earn a living for a while, and then return to your country. This will never be far away from our whole national purpose. It's part of our being -- immigration and people coming and living in our country and finding new lives in our country is part of our total experience. And so we look forward to continuing our work with Secretary Castaneda and with President Fox toward that mutual goal that Secretary Castaneda spoke of a little earlier.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MS. ELIZONDO: Unfortunately, we have run out of time. I would like to thank you for sharing your, indeed, valuable voices with the Voices of the Future for APEC.

(end transcript)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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