ambassador
Ambassador's Speech
AMBASSADOR WAYNE'S REMARKS AT AMCHAM’S EVENT “INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT AS A SOURCE OF ARGENTINA’S COMPETITIVENESS”
March 3, 2008
At the American Club
Mr. Minister, Alejandro, Ladies and Gentlemen: Good morning to you all.
I am delighted to be here today to help kick off this important forum.
The minister and I were talking last Friday, and we both remarked on the importance of innovation in a world that is more competitive than ever before.
Let me mention just one set of figures that will show you what I mean by that:
20 years ago, international trade accounted for roughly 17 percent of the world’s economy. Now, it’s around 30 percent, and growing.
That’s a huge difference. And what it means is that, as the trade in goods and services expands, and more companies and countries enter the global marketplace, people, companies and societies must innovate to keep up.
In just a few minutes, Minister Barañao will share his ideas about Argentina’s culture of innovation and the plans he has to stimulate Argentine creativity and competitiveness. Saturday, President Kirchner talked eloquently about the importance of adding value to Argentina's products and the key role of education and knowledge for the world's economy today.
Speaking of that, I have stated and written many times how impressed I am with the creativity and ingenuity of the Argentine people, and I look forward to working with Minister Barañao on projects that will harness that creativity and our own.
For now, though, I will talk briefly on the United States’ experience with innovation.
I’m very proud of our innovative spirit. The World Economic Forum recently ranked the U.S. as the most competitive economy in the world among 131 economies ranked. The ranking is based on over 100 variables which the authors have grouped into 12 pillars; the last a key pilar is the ability to facilitate innovation.
That ranking is due in part to our ability over the years to encourage innovation. It has been connected to our development over the past century.
How have we done it? Well, our economy promotes entrepreneurship and rewards creativity and applying new techology and new ideas.
Discoverers, inventors, creators, and risk-takers play a very important role in our economy, and have since the 19th century when Thomas Edison harnessed the power of electricity and Alexander Graham Bell began the modern process of global communications with the development of the telephone.
And in more modern examples, companies like Google, Dell, and Microsoft didn’t even exist thirty years ago, but everyone knows them today.
In Argentina, the same could be said about Mercadolibre.com and Globant.
Governments also play a key role in innovation, by creating an environment in which innovation and entrepreneurs can emerge and thrive.
So, what are we doing to promote more research and create incentives for innovation?
Broadly speaking, we have found that:
Economies benefit from greater competition , so we have to keep opening global markets;
Transparency and predictability in regulations and laws enable entrepreneurs and innovators to focus more on what they do best;
A strong educational system is essential; and strong intellectual property protections for innovators.
And speaking of intellectual property protections, I understand that Argentines applied to the Argentine patent office for around six thousand patents last year alone.
That tells me that Argentine innovators have an enormous stake in effective protection of their intellectual property.
We in the U.S. do as well. Intellectual property-intensive industries, such as the biotechnology and information technology sectors, now account for over half of U.S. exports.
They represent 40 percent of our economic growth, and employ 18 million people with wages 40 percent higher than the U.S. average.
Those are gains from innovation.
Here in Argentina, some of the fastest growing segments of the economy for U.S. investment are the knowledge based industries: information technology; media and entertainment; and biotechnology.
Who would have imagined even ten years ago that the second largest U.S. employer in Argentina would be IBM, with approximately 6,000 professionals providing IT services to the company’s clients all over the world!
The United States is one of the countries whose economy and people have benefited the most from increased competitiveness and productivity as a result of innovation.
Nevertheless, we recognize that competitiveness and productivity are not static goals, but rather continual processes that require a hearty diet of continual innovation.
Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutiérrez, himself an international businessman who served as the President of Kelloggs before entering public service, recognizes the importance of innovation.
With that in mind, he launched the first Americas Competitiveness Forum in Atlanta last June that brought 1,000 government and business leaders from Canada to Argentina together to discuss ways in which we can all work together in partnership to enhance our global competitiveness through innovation.
Later this month, the Government of Uruguay will be hosting a follow-on regional innovation forum to explore ways in which South America can strengthen its own global competitiveness through innovation.
Given that many of the knowledge-based global firms from the United States are active in Argentina and the rest of South America, Secretary Gutiérrez has pledged strong U.S. Department of Commerce participation and support for this forum.
Many of these U.S. firms have their regional headquarters in Buenos Aires, thus Alejandro Díaz has taken it upon AMCHAM to ensure that a good private sector delegation from Argentina participates in the forum, scheduled for March 31 to April 1. I am sure he will provide you all with information on how you can participate.
Next August, Secretary of Commerce Gutiérrez will host the second Americas Competitiveness Forum, again in Atlanta, home of two of our most iconic innovations: Coca-Cola and CNN’s 24 hour news service.
Given the important regional and increasingly global role that Argentina is developing in the global market for knowledge-based products and services, we will be working very closely with AMCHAM, the Argentine private sector and the Government of Argentina to ensure that this country plays an important role in the success of the event and the regional process it represents.
For whoever is interested, our point man at the Embassy for this event is Sr. Commercial Advisor Eugenio Pallarés.
Let me wrap up. It has become a cliché to say that a country’s greatest assets are its human resources, but it is generally true.
And both our countries are blessed with an abundance of able and creative minds, which bodes well for our futures.
So I look forward to hearing Minister Barañao’s remarks about Argentina, and I hope you all find today’s forum fruitful.
Thank you all again for the opportunity to speak with you today.
