FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

This weekend in New Orleans finance ministers from the democracies in the Western Hemisphere will meet to continue the Summit of the Americas process.

It is our first meeting since the Miami summit in December of 1994 -- other than the special purpose meeting on money laundering in Buenos Aires -- and with the problems that Mexico experienced receding, it is time to examine how we can sustain and broaden the benefits of growth in our region.

The Latin American region has undergone a remarkable turnaround from the 1980s as the result of an initial round of reform. But there continues to be an important need to raise and sustain growth rates, and a critical need to address the problems of poverty. If the growth rate were to increase to say 5 or 6 percent a year, it will be a major move toward addressing a second tier of problems -- poverty and a serious inequity in income distribution.

There must be a continuation of economic reform in our region.

Therefore, our discussions will focus on three things: first, reinforcing commitments to sound economic policies, including ones oriented toward the private sector and which increase national savings; second, seeking agreement on a program for developing, liberalizing and integrating financial markets, and institutionalizing the consultative process in the Hemisphere; and third, strengthening efforts to combat financial crime.

There are nearly three-quarters of a billion people in the Western Hemisphere, many in well-developed areas. But there are places where there is no access to clean water. There are places with insufficient infrastructure -- roads, power plants, telephone systems. There are deeply serious poverty problems. There are countries paying dearly now for lax financial supervisory and regulatory regimes, and a lack of transparency. Both equity and debt markets are underdeveloped in much of the Hemisphere.

The prosperity Latin American can achieve through the initiatives we'll discuss in New Orleans holds enormous promise for economic growth, jobs and higher wages for Americans here at home, and will contribute to our national security.

The New Orleans ministerial will, I believe enable the economies in our region to continue on the path of reform.

Thank you.