Toespraak Ploumen bij UNDP Human Development Report

Toespraak | 14-05-2013

Your Excellency, Ms Kaag, Professor Van der Hoeven, Ms Tocklu, ladies and gentlemen,

I have now been Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation for six months.

In that time I’ve been witnessing ‘the rise of the South’.

I’ve travelled to Asia, Africa and South America,

where I felt the hope and dynamism of countries whose economies are growing rapidly.

In Singapore I heard about the Dutch economist Albert Winsemius,

who was Singapore’s economic advisor for over twenty years, as the country became an Asian tiger.

And I saw how companies in that smart city are still seeking out innovations today.

In South Sudan I spoke to Governor Kuol Manyang of Jonglei state,

who asked me for aid but also for investment.

Investments promote development, which fosters peace.

In Brazil I thought of what ex-President Lula once told me. He said:

We like to call Brazil an emerging market.

We forget that Brazil emerged a long time ago.

And of course Lula was right: the changes began long ago.

The Human Development Report illustrates these changes.

So I am very grateful for it, well documented as it is once more.

The Human Development Reports always make us think about difficult but crucial issues.

For example, the Arab Human Development Reports predicted the revolutions in the Arab region.

This report is a contribution to the discussion on progress and development in the South.

It shows not only that the BRICS countries have high growth rates and their Human Development Index – as the report says – has gone up,

but also that developing countries are growing at an amazing pace and their Human Development Index too is rising.

Meanwhile, due to the crisis, European economies are in a downturn.

The sharp contrast between North and South is blurring.

The differences between rich and poor are not as great as they were.

This changing world is making me rethink our policy.

I have three major ambitions.

First, I want to eliminate extreme poverty within a single generation – down to zero.

Second, I want sustainable, inclusive growth, worldwide.

Third, I want Dutch companies to do well abroad.

In short, I want growth and equal opportunities for all.

The Netherlands has always had international ambitions.

But to realise these, we need a new agenda,

that fits the new relationship between North and South.

The solution is clear: a combination of aid, trade and investment.

Ms Kaag, your report confirms that we need a new development agenda.

An agenda for growth and equal opportunities for all.

Let me start with growth.

The good news is that global income is rising.

More people are joining the middle class.

People, women and men, in general have better lives.

There is no country in the world where the Human Development Index is lower in 2012 than it was in 2000.

So people are more prosperous.

And their education and health care are better.

The South has been catching up fast.

To cite the report, the South is ‘a breeding ground for technical innovation and creative entrepreneurship’.

Companies in the South are more and more attractive for companies in the North.

They are more often partners in inclusive and sustainable growth,

and they receive more investment and income from trade.

More and more often, they are working with our companies and knowledge institutions.

World trade is crucial for jobs and growth – both in the Netherlands and abroad.

The Netherlands has one of the world’s most open economies.

Our prosperity depends on our exports.

I am stimulating companies to explore the growing markets of the South.

Because today Asia, Africa and Latin America are the continents where economies are growing fastest.

By 2030, they are expected to account for almost 60% of the world economy.

So companies really need to do business with them.

Especially given the extent of the crisis in Europe.

But, ladies and gentlemen, growth is not a cure-all.

The market is not perfect.

Growth does not automatically lead to equal opportunities – this, too, is clear from the report.

Growth does not always generate jobs.

It does not guarantee basic services like clean drinking water.

And it does not automatically make everyone more prosperous.

There is no such thing as a ‘trickle-down effect’.

There are still almost 900 million people living in absolute poverty.

Fragile states and conflict countries cannot reduce poverty on their own.

And almost three-quarters of the people living in extreme poverty live in middle-income countries.

They are benefiting too little from their countries’ economic growth.

So besides trade and investment, the South also still needs aid.

And reducing inequality is key to sustainable growth,

as growth reduces poverty more effectively in countries with low income inequality.

So there has to be equality between men and women

and between different ethnic and religious groups,

and equal opportunities for the disadvantaged.

Everyone has to be able to participate fully in society.

This is why equality has a central place in my policy,

not only within countries, but also between them.

The issue of equity deserves high priority on the post-2015 development agenda.

North and South can work together to ensure that prosperity is shared more fairly.

Take Samrawit Moges, an Ethiopian businesswoman who runs the company Travel Ethiopia.

It is one of the first companies in Ethiopia to mainly employ women.

She has also worked with a Dutch company, growing freesias and plant cuttings

with Dutch government support.

Her firm created 700 jobs in her community.

Twenty deaf people were hired for the freesia project – they’re still working for it.

That is growth and inclusion – with a bit of help from the Dutch government.

Ladies and gentlemen,

my new policy combines aid and trade – an overlap that I seek to maximise.

I would like to tell you how I am doing so.

Of course, we only combine aid and trade in countries that are suited to this.

In countries like Ethiopia, which has one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies.

Dutch flower companies have been doing business there for years.

Interest in Ethiopia from the Dutch agricultural sector has been growing.

I am stimulating Dutch companies – like those in Ethiopia – to explore opportunities in low- and middle-income countries

and I help them to overcome obstacles.

So that they can contribute to jobs and growth in Ethiopia.

In the interest of Ethiopian women, young people and school leavers, for example.

The companies themselves profit from this.

But the precondition is that they operate responsibly, looking out for Ethiopia’s people and its environment.

Companies should set an example.

Corporate social responsibility ensures that they contribute to development.

Take Dutch companies like Olij Roses and VCI, which I visited in Ethiopia.

They offer good terms of employment:

pregnancy leave,

medical insurance

and HIV/AIDS prevention.

Dutch companies have responsibilities to fulfil – and I expect them to deliver.

At the same time I am stimulating private sector development in the South.

I am helping solve problems in production and marketing chains.

The Netherlands is helping create the conditions for a good business climate and good employment practices:

conditions like an effective legal order, good infrastructure, access to finance and clear legislation.

We are increasingly putting our relationships with middle- and low-income countries on a footing of equality.

Alongside traditional aid, trade and investment play a major role.

Of course, there are still countries where we mainly focus on aid:

fragile states and conflict and post-conflict countries.

And countries where our exclusive focus is still trade.

We choose our approach on a case-by-case basis.

The report rightly states that there are no blueprints for progress.

So our new agenda aspires to a customised approach to each country.

But my goal is always the same:

sustainable, inclusive growth and equal opportunities for all,

North and South.

In Brazil, Singapore and South Sudan.

For men and for women.

Thank you.