Speech before the Los Angeles World Affairs Council on March 20, 2000:

His Excellency Amre Moussa
Foreign Minister, Arab Republic of Egypt

Thank you very much, Mrs. Glazer, for this very fine introduction and for what you have mentioned about the efforts we have undertaken to achieve peace in the Middle East, peace between Arab countries and Israel and peace for everybody in the region, this vast region of the Middle East and indeed beyond. Mrs. Ahmanson, Mrs. Glazer, Mrs. Morris, ladies and gentlemen. I'm very happy to be here today and thank you for the invitation addressed to me to be here with you and address this prestigious Council which for almost half a century has contributed in all fields effecting human interaction.

I'm glad to be in one of the most beautiful states in the union. A renowned Egyptian philosopher visited this state over fifty years ago and commented, and I quote "The happiest of the happy is he whose destiny is to live forever in California." I am therefore delighted to be able to address distinguished representatives of this happy people. 

Ladies and gentlemen, last night I inaugurated the Egyptian exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum. It's a fantastic museum and I invite you to see it. I'm sure you will leave the museum to [go to] a travel agency. I was totally flattered by the warm interest in ancient Egyptian culture. Indeed, in my encounter with my friends I found that what primarily comes to the minds when they think of Egypt is its great civilization and long history. We have just celebrated our seventh millennium, with the world lagging behind by four thousand years. Yes, we're still impressed with the wonders of the Egyptian civilization and its vast contribution to the world. We're proud of our past but my message to you today is that we are even more excited about our future. 

We are building a new Egypt, a new era in Egypt's view of its role in this region and of the world, but equally a new era of the world's view of Egypt, an era where economic and technological needs complement our political and cultural interests in the Middle East. Our most developed asset in this endeavor is our people, and we are investing in building a better future for them, for the generations to come. 

The four main pillars of our strategy are: human resource development, private sector involvement, information technology infrastructure, and economic integration with the world. Our policy goal can be described in three simple words--sustainable high growth. As for our ultimate objective, it is to become the leading market and financial center of the Middle East. The Egypt seen today is one of many changes. Change towards the private sector-led economy, in which currently over seventy percent of the GDP is in private hands. Change towards creating a business climate ideal for investment, productivity and exports, one in which foreign investments have increased last year by one hundred percent. It's in these transformations that a new class of businessmen has emerged--one that is vigorously looking outward for business opportunities and is enthusiastic about integration in the global economy. 

In this it finds a strong partner in the government. Just three weeks ago, we held in Cairo the first Economic Regional Conference of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa-- COMESA, it is called--a conference totally sponsored by the private sector, the private sector in the biggest free trade area in Africa comprised of twenty-one countries and around 400 million people, an area of huge potential. This conference drew double its expected participants from sixty countries who discussed investment opportunities in Africa--the new and most exciting frontier. Over and over, participants [stressed] the theme of small public-private partnership as the key to growth in the twenty-first century. We are committed to this approach.

There's no greater passion, ladies and gentlemen, for change in Egypt then when it comes to empowering our younger generation, our future. Almost fifty percent of Egypt's population today is under twenty years of age, a proposition that holds the greatest potential if well harnessed, yet great risk if left untapped. We are determined to leverage technology to empower these young minds. Diffusion of knowledge is the only way forward. Introduction of computers and the Internet in many of our schools has been a priority, and although it will take some time to achieve our one hundred percent diffusion goal, we are haunted by the miracles of modern technology. A recent international study shows that it took seventy-five years to diffuse telephone services to fifty million users. Forty years to diffuse the radio to the same number. Fifteen years to diffuse personal computers and it is taking today less than four years to diffuse the world wide web to fifty million users. 

As I mentioned, telecommunication technologies are clearly overcoming the barriers of time and are keen not to let this opportunity slide by. I wish to report, too, that we are ushering in a new information technology age. We are working with our American friends to create a "Delta Valley," a small version of Silicon Valley, which we expect will make Egypt globally competitive in both software and hardware products. The number of Egyptian companies specializing in information technology and computer software is rapidly increasing. They operate in a market that is growing at a rate of thirty-two percent a year, the second highest in the world. In addition, a number of Egyptian companies [are engaged] in assembling and manufacturing computer components, supplying up to sixty percent of the Egyptian market. 

Egypt is becoming the Arabic software hub of the world; government and private investment in information technology centers has multiplied. Just two days ago, the government presented a bill to Parliament that stipulates added incentives and tax exemptions to all hardware and software production ventures--telecommunications, infrastructures and multi-media transfer enterprises that will hopefully attract needed investments in this area. 

Ladies and gentlemen, my visit to the United States is part of Egypt's firm commitment to its friendship with America, a friendship that has stood the test of time. If I were to identify one overarching element behind advancement to peace, stability and prosperity in the Middle East without doubt a solid Egyptian-American partnership stands out in the forefront. We share the same vision--to transform the Middle East into a stable, peaceful and vibrant partner in the global economy. This directly benefits U.S. interests and our interests as well, as it does all of its friends in the region. Whether in peace or war, whether in fighting terrorism or sharing peacekeeping responsibilities around the world, this relationship has been the key to many success stories. Our economic cooperation has come a long way. U.S. aid to Egypt has greatly contributed to Egypt's economic reform program. It is, however, no longer the mainstay of our cooperation, as it has been upstaged by our rising trade, investments and joint ventures. Our private sectors today are carrying the mantle of our economic relations into new heights. Today, over two thousand U.S. companies are conducting business in Egypt. We hope that these developments will lead to a free trade area agreement with the U.S. We have already taken several steps in this direction. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like for a moment to address the state of the peace process in the Middle East. The U.S. and Egypt have together been relentlessly pursuing a comprehensive settlement of this lingering conflict. People in the Middle East are frustrated. They had hoped that turning the page of the most troubled and turbulent century would bring to an end once and for all the fighting of the Arab-Israeli conflict. They cannot understand why they are still deprived from enjoying the fruits of peace. Why after Camp David, Madrid, and Oslo, this has not become a reality. Why is it that the term "Arab-Israeli conflict" is still in existence? Why are the ambitions and dreams for a better future continuously frustrated by violence and complications? These are legitimate questions. 

It should not take us too long to achieve peace. We all have a vision for a better future in the Middle East, for its security, stability and prosperity. This vision stands on one pillar--comprehensive and fair peace. No other option is viable. The only viable formula for genuine peace is that it be an Arab-Israeli balance of peace. The formula was accurately translated in 1991 in Madrid as the preface of land for peace. This should apply to all tracks of negotiations--Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian. Land for peace is the only formula that will insure the security of the region and all its states, including Israel, of course. Nothing in it should be construed as a threat to anyone. 

I'm glad to note that the activities currently undertaken are helping this process move forward with the final status negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis starting today with President Clinton, with President Assad next week, and with very important talks between President Mubarak and President Clinton in Washington also next week. I am one of those who believe that the majority of the people of Israel, like their Arab partners, cherish peace. The problem lies in making decisions that pull away from this peace. Making difficult decisions, in part, is part of leadership.

Indeed, the history of the peace process is the story of a series of hard decisions on both sides. One of the pillars of the peace that we are trying to get, and I hope we'll be successful very soon, is to establish a Palestinian state, a vibrant Palestinian state, that would live with peace, side by side, with all its neighbors. The Palestinian people, like the Israeli people, have the right to get their own state. This is the call of justice, and history has taught us that it is much wiser to demonstrate the power of justice than the arrogance of power. The truth is that we should not miss any more opportunities and, indeed, we in Egypt, intend not to miss the current opportunity. Worlds of opportunities never return . Out of our keenest [desires is] that this process not slip forever. We, together with the United States, are going to spare no effort in order to protect and push forward the peace process in the Middle East in the hope that by the end of this year, the year 2000, and under the active leadership of President Clinton, we will be able to close that file. Anyway, we believe, many of us believe, that the time has come for this conflict to come to an end and the end is in sight--it is possible. Then we shall get to that peace, a permanent peace, a just peace, a balanced peace, and the file of this conflict issue between Arabs and Israelis will be closed forever.

Those are and continue to be indispensable issues in this process. U.S. diplomacy, U.S. leadership and to invest in the U.S. relationship with all parties in order for us to achieve these goals.

Now I believe the time has come for us to think of one more element--a question. Now that peace has come in sight, what shall we do to rebuild the region that will live under conditions of peace after having lived for over half a century under conditions of war? This is why late last year, 1999, I [asked] hundreds of students in Cairo University a question: What next? What [comes] after the peace process? For fifty years of the Middle East has been totally consumed by the Arab-Israeli conflict. The issue has totally dominated the scene in the region for almost a century. We have always asked the question--What if peace fails? We have never asked the other question--What if peace succeeds? How do we promote economic cooperation? Present interaction in the future? How do we foster security and create a new region where weapons of mass destructions are eliminated and replaced with trade, investment and technological cooperation? A new vision is in order. I have called upon our major institutions in Egypt to think of the future edifice of the Middle East. Today, I extend the same invitation to you, our American friends and partners, on this long arduous road. 

Ladies and gentlemen, if there is one thing I promise you, it is that Egypt along with the U.S. will not relent in their efforts until the promise of peace, stability and security and prosperity yearned for by everyone becomes a realty.

Thank you very much.