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FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS March 10, 2004 Remarks on the Millennium Challenge Corporation Selection Criteria, John B. Taylor, Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs Introduction It is a pleasure to begin this meeting discussing the progress of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the criteria/methodology in selecting eligible countries. I’m glad that Interim CEO Al Larson can join us here at Treasury, and we are all moving as quickly as possible to make the MCC a success story. Just last week, the Board approved the criteria/methodology for country eligibility, which Al will explain. The criteria have been sent to Congress and published in the Federal Register for a thirty-day comment period. I know that the folks at MCC look forward to your comments and today’s event should be a good beginning. We should also view today’s event as a celebration, as our efforts are coming together to reshape development finance. The MCC will reward countries that are demonstrating performance in policies that promote economic growth, transparency, and accountability for results. The MCC is a remarkable achievement that owes its thanks to President Bush’s vision, the hard work of many people within the U.S. Government, the U.S. Congress, as well as many people within this room and elsewhere from the NGO and private sector communities. Development Strategy: Grants and Trip to On behalf of Secretary Snow, I can say that he is proud to serve as the Vice Chairman of the Board. He will be working with Secretary Powell and the other Board members to provide coordination and oversight to all our development activities. Secretary Snow brings to the Board expertise in policies that promote economic growth and enhance productivity. Furthermore, as the U.S. Governor in the international financial institutions, he is in a unique position to ensure coordination of MCA programs with the World Bank, the regional development banks and other international financial institutions In fact, I want to take this opportunity to highlight a trip I’ll be taking to This will be a particularly opportune time for me to undertake this trip. I believe that this trip will provide me information on what is working and what is not working that can be of high value to the MCC, and it will also provide essential information as we head into replenishment discussions in the various development banks. This will be particularly important on the issue of grants. As many of you know, due to Likewise, in the 9th African Development Fund (AfDF) Replenishment Agreement (October 2002), donors agreed to increase the percentage of resources that are allocated as grants to 18-21 percent of the AfDF’s total envelope. Previously, the AfDF had provided 7.5 percent of its total envelope as technical assistance grants. We intend to carry this momentum forward into IDA-14 and the replenishments of the African and Asian Development Funds and press for even higher levels of grants. Why does the Administration think this is so important?
In closing, I believe this is an historic time for all of us. Through its focus on promoting economic freedom, ruling justly, and investing in people, and doing so in a way that does not add to debt burdens, the MCA demonstrates the Administration’s firm commitment to combating poverty and increasing living standards throughout the world. We look forward to working with all of you and with the MCC on this mission.
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