March 13, 2007
HP-311

Closing Remarks by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
at Treasury’s Capital Markets Competitiveness Conference
Georgetown University

Washington, DC--Thank you very much. Thanks to all of you for participating in today's Conference and making it a great success.

Throughout the day we've heard a range of opinions and viewpoints, all aimed at keeping American markets the most competitive in the world. We have had a good dialogue, with plenty of back-and-forth, and I believe we've made progress.

The competitiveness of our capital markets has a very significant impact on the health and growth of our economy, and we benefited today from having the nation's best minds engaged on this subject.

I have paid close attention throughout the day, as have my colleagues from Treasury. And I know we have benefited from fresh thinking and new perspectives. We have covered a lot of ground on these complex issues and we need to digest what we've heard. As I said earlier, we will soon issue a plan for moving forward on these issues, with the goal of making significant progress this year on generating concrete proposals. This is a high priority for me.

Again, many thanks again to the faculty, students, and administration of Georgetown University for being gracious and engaged hosts. We have appreciated your help organizing the Conference and we are certainly grateful for your participation in it.

Thank you all very much.