CONDOLEEZZA RICE: SIGNING CEREMONY FOR MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION’S COMPACT WITH THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
U.S. Department of State
March 28 2006
AMBASSADOR DANILOVICH: Madame Secretary, Minister Oskanian, Minister
Khachatryan, Mr. Nercissiantz, Ambassadors and representatives of the
Diplomatic Corps, distinguished guests: We are delighted to welcome
all of you here today to witness the signing of the compact between
Armenia and the Millennium Challenge Corporation and to celebrate
the enormous achievement of the people of Armenia.
I would like to extend a warm welcome to the delegation from Armenia
and to recognize many of the people who have worked so tirelessly to
bring us to this day, especially our Ambassador John Evans and his
colleagues at our Embassy in Yerevan and, of course, the superb group
of professionals that make up our MC Armenia team who work closely
with Stephen Groff and Alex Russin and other members of our MCC team
here in Washington.
Finally, I would like to extend our appreciation to our board member
Ken Hackett for taking part in today’s ceremony and I would also like
to thank Fred Schieck of USAID for being here with us today.
The MCC Armenia compact will provide $235 million that will trigger
economic growth and create new opportunities for the reduction of
poverty by assisting Armenia’s farmers and their communities. A large
percentage of Armenians live in rural villages and are dependent on
agriculture for their well-being. Poor road conditions and unreliable
irrigation have kept these communities from enjoying the benefits
of the tremendous growth that other parts of the Armenian economy
have experienced.
Therefore, Armenia has designed a program that will have a direct
impact on 75 percent of the rural population. Armenia’s program,
with MCC help, will: one, upgrade nearly 600 miles of rural roads
and provide access to jobs, markets and social services and create
linkages between agriculture producers and market places, and; two,
through improved irrigation, technical assistance and credit support,
raise the incomes of a quarter of a million of Armenian households.
With improved irrigation canals and better roads, rural residents
will be able to grow better crops, get them to market and earn a more
dependable income. MCC funding will also help rural residents take
advantage of other programs funded by the United States: healthcare
clinics, school internet centers and centers for public information,
all of which will be accessible even during the difficult winter
months.
I will be traveling to Armenia in early April and look forward to
showing the MC Armenia program to Chairman Jim Kolbe and to meet with
the broad spectrum of Armenian civil society that has been involved in
the creation of this program and to discuss their future involvement to
the program’s implementation. Their engagement is essential to ensure
that the Millennium Challenge Account funding is directed efficiently
and effectively to the projects that Armenia has designed and its
benefits go directly to the people that they are designed to help.
One of the critical components of an MCC compact is that partner
countries must continue to maintain a high level of performance in
ruling justly, investing in people and promoting economic freedom.
The signing of this compact today is therefore an affirmation of our
confidence that Armenia will continue to enact the institutional
reforms that will support the effective use of our aid, including
measures to support and protect democratic and electoral processes.
As we embark upon this dynamic partnership between our two nations
to reduce poverty through economic growth, I want to extend to you,
Ministers Oskanian and Minister Khachatryan, our sincere and heartfelt
congratulations. And now it’s a pleasure to ask our Chair, Dr. Rice,
to say a few remarks. (Applause.)
SECRETARY RICE: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am honored
to welcome the distinguished members of the Armenian delegation.
Minister Khachatryan, Minister Oskanian, thank you very much, and I
think Ambassador Markarian is here as well. Are you? There you are.
Yes. And I’d like to welcome the American Ambassador, Ambassador Evans,
as well. There are many members of the Diplomatic Corps here.
Thank you for being here.
Today’s step is a promising one for the partnership between Armenia and
the United States. The Millennium Challenge Corporation compact that
our two nations are signing today, worth more than $235 million over
the next five years, is a testament to the hard work and dedication
of the Armenian people and their elected government. The compact is
also the embodiment of America’s transformational diplomacy because
it will empower Armenian men and women to better their own lives,
to strengthen their own communities and to transform their own future.
One of the greatest moral challenges of the 21st century is to
alleviate the suffering posed by dire poverty. That is the goal of
President Bush’s Millennium Challenge Account initiative, to draw
whole nations into an expanding circle of opportunity and enterprise.
This is the eighth compact that the Millennium Challenge Corporation
has signed thus far, making a total of $1.5 billion committed since
last April. This represents a tremendous effort both by partner
countries and by the men and women of the Millennium Challenge
Corporation. Ambassador Danilovich, I want to congratulate you and
your staff on this very good work. I want to thank our board member
Ken Hackett for being here. It’s really been a team effort and we’re
very grateful for the work that is being done.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is committed to making a
real difference in the lives of people who suffer in poverty. It
is focused on results, not merely good intentions. So the MCC uses
16 independent objective indicators to measure a country’s progress
toward governing justly, advancing economic freedom and investing in
its people. The MCC also recognizes that you will only get results
if developing countries have ownership over their own development,
so this program allows our partner countries themselves to determine
how much assistance to request, what they want to use it for and what
criteria will measure success.
The compact we are signing today will directly improve the lives of
750,000 Armenians, three-quarters of the country’s rural population.
Over the next five years, Armenians will build almost 1,000 kilometers
of rural roads. They will upgrade their irrigation and drainage
systems. They will plant new crops. And through all of this, the
United States will provide Armenia with the technical assistance and
credit support that it urgently needs.
Our partnership will help Armenia to fight poverty through
sustainable economic growth. To ensure that progress toward this end
remains constant, Armenia must continue to advance its democratic
reforms. International and domestic monitors did express concerns
about the conduct of the recent constitutional referendum and the
Armenian Government has acknowledged these difficulties and pledged
to improve the conduct of the elections to be held in 2007 and 2008.
These are important commitments and the United States stands ready to
help Armenia to ensure that its upcoming elections are free and fair.
America is eager to strengthen our partnership with a democratic
Armenia and the MCC compact that we are signing today will advance
this goal. We view your success as our success and we will always
help you to ensure the future of freedom and prosperity that all
Armenians deserve and desire. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
MINISTER OSKANIAN: Secretary Rice, Ambassador Danilovich, I am here
today on behalf of the President of the Republic of Armenia and
my colleagues here from the Armenian Government to thank President
Bush, Secretary Rice, Ambassador Danilovich, the U.S. Government and
the American people for including the Republic of Armenian in the
Millennium Challenge compact.
President Bush’s visionary approach to development which complements
the invaluable assistance that has already been provided to Armenia
through USAID and other U.S. programs continues the best tradition of
American missionaries from whom Armenians have benefited greatly. The
Millennium Challenge compact is a natural extension of the practice,
doing good borne of one’s own convictions, but with the intent to
nourish the recipient’s sense of self-worth and ability.
In the 21st century, when philanthropy is not about charity but about
finding solutions to deep-seated problems, we welcome the United
States Government decision to assist and support directly those
countries who have determined to rule justly, to invest in people
and to promote economic freedom in order for their citizens to live
in dignity and security.
I see our colleagues from other recipient countries, and I am certain
that they join me in saying that what this grant — the U.S. is
recognizing with this grant — the United States is recognizing the
reality and duality of our lives: persistent poverty in the face of
progress. On one hand, one-third of Armenia’s population continues to
live in poverty. Two-thirds of our rural communities are not directly
connected to a central road of distribution system and most of our
secondary and tertiary roads do not provide the necessary access. On
the other hand, Armenia has managed, against great odds with an
unresolved conflict and with closed borders, to be ranked first in
the world in past utilization of foreign assistance, to privatize and
to legislate such that our economy is ranked among the world’s most
liberal and to register the highest economic growth in the region
without the benefit of extracting resources.
That is why a long consultative process concluded that with significant
poverty reduction would request Millennium Challenge Corporation funds
to be spent in two critical areas of infrastructure. Our program has
been consciously designed to complement the work of other donors.
With this signing of the Millennium Challenge Compact, Armenia is aware
that we have the obligation to build on the confidence that has been
placed in our government and people. Just as economic development is a
facilitator of democratization, so is democracy a tool for further and
deeper economic development. We understand that the U.S. Government
has chosen to use these funds for economic development only when a
society and its leadership comprehend their political responsibility
to nurture and sustain democratic practices.
Armenia is among the world’s youngest democracies and our democratic
and economic reforms are irreversible. Our significant progress,
notwithstanding, we recognize that much remains to be done to make
these reforms comprehensive. We know that corruption must not be
tolerated and that law must rule, that the principles of democracy
must be transformed to traditions of democracy in our country.
Madame Secretary, the elections of 2007 and 2008 that you referred to
will test our democratic practices. Our task until then is to partner
with the United States and European governments to implement the
necessary corrective steps to improve the conditions necessary for
an honest and fair expression of people’s voices. In this regard,
we welcome the American proposals for certain structural reforms
and education and public outreach efforts. We are already begun the
process of verifying voter lists. We’re making progress in reforming
the electoral law with the active participation and agreement of all
political forces in our parliament. As in years past, OSCE monitors
will be present and will monitor our elections.
In other words, Madame Secretary, Armenia and Armenians are determined
to benefit from the intent and content of the Millennium Challenge
compact because our people deserve no less.
Thank you. (Applause.)
(The Compact was signed.)
(Applause.)