Paris, 5
February 1999 - When
an individual loses his job or is evicted from home, he may feel overcome with
problems. However, when he starts to tackle them, the situation begins to look
brighter. That morale factor can make all the difference in human life as well
as in the life of a nation.
The International Chamber of Commerce, or any other
outside agency, cannot solve Russia’s economic problems. Only the Russian
government and people can do that.
What we can do as the world's leading business
organization is to place at Russia's disposal more than 80 years of experience
in setting the standards, codes, disciplines and rules that are the cement of
the free market and international business practice. This is why I am heading
an ICC delegation to meet Prime Minister Primakov and government and business
leaders in Moscow.
ICC knows what it is talking about. We number in
our membership 7000 companies of every size and representing every business
sector. They come from no fewer than 137 countries. Many of the world's biggest
multinational companies are active ICC members. It is no idle boast to say that
ICC has its fingers on the pulse of international business.
Our expertise is in matters that are absolutely
vital to international business. They include the legal instruments for the
conduct of modern business, the protection of intellectual property, business
rules to combat extortion and bribery, setting up efficient tax regimes, guidelines
on customs modernization and the settlement of commercial disputes by arbitration.
We know that, with its huge wealth in human and
natural resources, Russia can be a positive economic force and generator of
international business. Provided that the right conditions are created, among
them an effective legal framework for investment, there is no reason why Russia
should not become an integral part of the new global economy that offers such
great prospects for the 21st century.
There is something that Russia needs perhaps ever
more urgently than huge infusions of funds, and this is trust – trust in
its institutions, in its financial probity, in its political stability and integrity.
Trust is built gradually, on the basis of performance
and record. It is only when trust is won that Russia can hope to restart the
inflow of investment of the right sort – not speculative short-term funds,
but long-term direct investment by international companies who are convinced
that to acquire a stake in Russia's future is to make a sound bet.
The more closely Russian business is involved with
the wider world business community, the easier its task will be. There is no
better way of building this relationship than through active membership of ICC,
which involves hands-on participation in our work as the advocate of business
in the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations.
It is no secret that we want a representative cross-section
of Russian companies to form a national committee as soon as can be managed.
ICC is glad to have a score of direct members in Russia, but for a country of
such importance to the world economy, anything less than a fully-fledged national
committee must be considered inadequate. A national committee would include
companies in all the country’s main business sectors and have its own Moscow-based
secretariat.
International business has a vital interest in
successful reforms in Russia. A Russia that is fully integrated in the world
economy in respected and equal partnership would open up new opportunities for
the creation of wealth and jobs and new markets for its business partners.
We are confident that ICC's mission to Moscow will
be a significant step towards the creation of that business partnership.
Adnan Kassar is President of the International
Chamber of Commerce for 1999-2000.
He is an eminent international banker, with broad
experience in international investment. Mr Kassar is Chairman of Fransabank,
a leading bank in Lebanon.