REMARKS BY AL GORE
                       APEC BUSINESS SUMMIT

 	         It is a great honor for me to address the APEC Business
                       Summit at this critical time in Asia's economic history. As all of
                       you know, the crisis in Iraq has prevented President Clinton
                       from attending this meeting. But I can assure you that APEC,
                       and APEC's central mission - stronger growth, greater
                       integration, and deeper cooperation among the economies of
                       the region - remain at the very heart of America's agenda. 

                       Five years ago this month, when President Clinton convened
                       the first APEC meeting on Blake Island, it was a time of great
                       opportunity for this region. Asia had the fastest growing
                       economies in the entire world. Living standards had quadrupled
                       in just one generation. Millions were rising out of poverty and
                       into the middle class each year. 

                       Today, we meet at a very different time -- a time of economic
                       uncertainty. The high tides of investment that had flowed to
                       this region have now temporarily ebbed, and millions of
                       families have fallen back into poverty. Children are dropping
                       out of school by the thousands to seek work. 

                       One year ago, many thought this was a purely regional crisis;
                       we now know it to be global -- affecting Russia and raising
                       serious concerns about the economies of Latin America as well.

                       All of us have learned lessons -- hard lessons -- in the past
                       year. For one thing, this crisis is clearly not just about
                       weaknesses in particular nations; it also demands that we
                       strengthen and improve the operations of the entire
                       international financial system. 

                       In a very real sense, we are the victims of our own success.
                       The international financial system fashioned near the end of
                       World War II has dramatically expanded prosperity, deepened
                       democracy and freedom, and reduced hunger, disease, and
                       illiteracy around the world. But in the midst of new wealth and
                       opportunity, we have found new risk and challenge. 

                       We can now move capital around the world at the touch of a
                       computer key. But when that capital flows into weak financial
                       systems whose dangers are obscured by poor transparency, the
                       same capital can flow out just as fast -- leaving debt and
                       dislocation in its wake. The resulting contagion can then
                       unfairly damage even sound economies. 

                       And in too many places, democratic institutions have not
                       caught up with democratic aspirations. Instead, we find
                       cronyism, corruption, and social unrest -- adding to the
                       problem of attracting world investment. 

                       But what we have learned also gives us every reason to be
                       hopeful. After all, we are the nations that, together, created
                       an economic miracle for Asia and the whole Asian-Pacific
                       region. From Seoul to Shanghai to Singapore, from Sydney to
                       Santiago to Silicon Valley, our businesses, our workers, and
                       our governments had the skills, the creativity, and the drive to
                       make it happen. Our people have not lost their abilities or
                       their energies -- and they have certainly not lost their will.
                       Weaknesses in financial structures have taken a toll, but the
                       solid backbone -- the entrepreneurial spirit, the manufacturing
                       strength, the dedication of our workforces -- remains. 

                       So I come before you with this simple message this evening:
                       just as our economies built an economic miracle for this
                       region, now we must build an economic recovery. Just as
                       today's economic crises are global in scope, the solutions must
                       be global as well. And for my country's part, I assure you that
                       the United States of America is determined to remain a strong
                       partner -- both for the sake of jobs and growth in our own
                       country, and for the sake of freedom and prosperity around the
                       world. 

                       This much is clear: just as the global financial crisis started
                       here in Asia, the global economic recovery can and must start
                       here in Asia as well. Tonight, I challenge the Asian Pacific
                       nations to lead the way. 

                       I want to discuss what I believe are the three central elements
                       of renewed economic growth in this region: first, an aggressive
                       recovery strategy for the short-term, built upon strong action
                       and leadership by individual nations around the world. 

                       Second, the steps we must all take together, as a family of
                       nations, to build a stronger financial architecture and ensure
                       sustained growth and stability into the 21st Century. And
                       third, a deeper shared commitment to the fundamental human
                       and political freedoms that are the surest foundation of free
                       markets everywhere. 

                       First, let us begin by recognizing the great progress that has
                       been made to stem the current crisis -- and the crucial next
                       steps that must be taken toward an immediate economic
                       recovery. 

                       Since the onset of the crisis last summer, we have worked with
                       the international community to mobilize unprecedented
                       support for countries in crisis. The IMF, the World Bank, and
                       the Asian Development Bank have committed $65 billion to the
                       affected countries in the region. To date, some $44 billion of
                       this has been disbursed to the countries in crisis. These strong
                       reform programs, backed by financial support from the
                       international community, have helped to restore stability and
                       lay the foundation for recovery in the region. 

                       We are seeing progress: for example, interest rates in Korea
                       and Thailand have now returned to -- and in some cases even
                       fallen below -- their pre-crisis levels. Governments have begun
                       the hard task of reforming financial systems and restoring
                       banks to health. There are real signs that both output and
                       demand may be bottoming out. 

                       But let us not underestimate the challenge which still
                       confronts us. Optimism can be our ally; realism must be our
                       guide. 

                       In September, President Clinton called for specific, additional
                       steps to spur growth and help those countries most in need. I
                       am proud to report that nations around the world have risen to
                       this common cause. The United States has now met its
                       obligations to the IMF. The U.S., Canada, Japan, and some
                       nations of Europe have cut interest rates. The G-7 industrial
                       nations have agreed to establish a new precautionary line of
                       credit, anchored in the IMF, to help nations with sound
                       economic policies ward off global turmoil. Brazil is addressing
                       its fiscal problems, and the international community is
                       providing meaningful support. 

                       Now, we must advance this agenda, and that means all
                       nations must redouble their efforts to restore growth right
                       away -- to lift the lives and the livelihoods of both this region
                       and the world. Tomorrow, I will discuss with APEC leaders an
                       urgent strategy to stem the financial crisis -- strengthening
                       social safety nets for countries in distress, promoting trade
                       and investment, and getting the corporate and financial
                       systems back on their feet. 

                       To begin with, let us not forget those who have been hit the
                       hardest by the crisis: the poor and unemployed, children and
                       the elderly. After so many years of dynamic and seemingly
                       endless growth in this region, many nations were unprepared
                       for the human cost of contraction. 

                       While the IMF has allowed for critical increases in social
                       investment in these countries, we must do more. That is why I
                       am so pleased that the World Bank and the Asian
                       Development Bank will more than double their support to
                       strengthen social safety nets in this region. And I am pleased
                       to announce a new U.S. initiative, a social framework for
                       growth, that will combine bilateral assistance, technical
                       assistance, and micro-credit -- so that we can help to ease
                       human suffering, and build the kind of stability and shared
                       prosperity that are essential to free market economies. 

                       To achieve a rapid recovery, we must also channel more
                       investment and trade back into this region -- and America will
                       continue to do its part. 

                       Tonight, I am pleased to announce that, in addition to the $5
                       billion in short- and medium-term trade financing that our
                       Export-Import Bank made available in the wake of the crisis, it
                       will now provide an additional $1 billion in medium-term
                       financing each for Indonesia, Thailand, and Korea to augment
                       the existing short-term programs in these countries and help
                       them meet their needs while at the same time encouraging
                       trade between our nations. 

                       I'm also pleased to announce that our Overseas Private
                       Investment Corporation will provide over $2 billion in insurance
                       and financing to support new private investment in Asia, and
                       will create innovative new financing products to bring more
                       private capital back into this region. We want to do all that we
                       can to encourage trade and investment here, so American
                       business can be an active partner in your growth and recovery. 

                       Next, short-term recovery demands that we revitalize the
                       region's financial systems. That means lifting the mountains of
                       bad debt that are crushing many banks and corporations
                       throughout the region -- leaving them struggling to pay
                       workers and creditors, and leaving them unable to secure the
                       financing to keep factories open and economies humming. I
                       have the honor to announce to you that this evening, President
                       Clinton and Prime Minister Obuchi are together formally
                       launching a joint initiative -- along with the Asian
                       Development Bank and the World Bank -- to help nations
                       obtain the financing to revive their banking systems and
                       remove obstacles to serious restructuring. 

                       There is a reason recovery must begin with the removal of
                       obstacles to private sector growth. Ultimately, our best hope is
                       to allow free markets to work their magic. That is why, six
                       years ago, President Clinton and I worked so hard to eliminate
                       the chronic deficits that had blocked our own private sector's
                       borrowing and investment. 

                       But once the private sector in this region has the freedom to
                       grow, it must rise to the responsibility that comes with that
                       opportunity. We need your active involvement in global
                       economic recovery. We need your sustained investment in
                       emerging markets. We need your support for the education,
                       training, and workplace conditions that ensure a strong
                       workforce. The Asian-Pacific region needs a strong and
                       engaged private sector to replace bad debt with sound
                       investment, once and for all. 

                       Before I move to the systemic, longer-term issues we must
                       address, I want to make one further point. In 1993, other
                       nations rightly asked the United States to get our fiscal house
                       in order. We have done so. And just as the world looked to
                       America then to play a more powerful role in the global
                       economy, so today the world looks to Japan. 

                       One of the reasons we do so is that we know what Japan can
                       do when it is at its best. After all, Japan's achievements have
                       been extraordinary -- building the world's second largest
                       economy, forging a broad prosperity and security for its people,
                       and leading the way toward international development and
                       peace. Even in the midst of recession, Japan generates more
                       than two-thirds of Asia's combined GDP. The region cannot
                       recover without Japan boldly and strongly leading the way. I
                       believe Japan can do so -- and I believe it must. But Japan's
                       economy has now been stalled for five years. If Asia is to
                       prosper in the 21st Century, Japan needs to restart its
                       economy in this century: 

                       By moving promptly on bank reform -- as it has begun to do;
                       by further spurring domestic demand; by deregulating key
                       economic sectors; and by opening more markets. 

                       By achieving strong growth, driven by domestic demand, Japan
                       can provide the spark to restart every economic engine in the
                       region. If Japan meets this challenge, it can lead this entire
                       region into the 21st Century. 

                       While these short-term steps are critical to stem the crisis, we
                       must also work aggressively to address the broader, systemic
                       causes of crisis -- and that means working together to reshape
                       our world financial architecture, so that we can build a strong
                       and sustainable recovery for the long haul. 

                       We must realize that meeting these twin goals -- short-term
                       recovery and longer-term growth and stability -- requires a
                       delicate balance. For the irony is that by addressing the larger
                       systemic problems too abruptly, or in the wrong way, we could
                       actually slow the immediate recovery that is so desperately
                       needed. But that doesn't make these broader problems any
                       less urgent. We absolutely must adapt the world's financial
                       and trading institutions to the new and renewed economy that
                       they serve. In other words, we need a global financial
                       architecture that is as open and inclusive -- and just as robust
                       and dynamic -- as today's high-speed, hyper-linked information
                       economy. 

                       At last year's APEC meeting in Vancouver, President Clinton
                       and other Asian Pacific leaders launched an international effort
                       that gives emerging economies a seat at the table as we
                       strengthen the world financial system. Our finance ministers
                       and central bankers have been hard at work on this task; we
                       need their candid assessments and boldest ideas. 

                       Our challenge is to build a foundation for more stable and
                       sustainable capital flows -- not to halt or control the flow of
                       capital, but rather to make sure it is used wisely and
                       effectively, in the most productive ways possible. 

                       Toward this end, we must give emerging markets more of the
                       tools to manage risk -- and help them to build financial
                       systems that are strong enough to withstand adversity. We
                       must also improve our international financial institutions --
                       including the IMF -- so we can manage crisis more effectively,
                       rely more upon the private sector for its resolution, and
                       minimize its impact on the most vulnerable. 

                       And obviously, it is urgent that we bring greater transparency
                       and openness to our international economic system. Forget the
                       gold standard -- today's economy operates on the information
                       standard. A nation's economic power comes from votes of
                       confidence cast constantly in markets around the world that
                       evaluate every government's policies every day, through
                       billions of transactions. If investors think you're playing fiscal
                       games, or if a nation's financial standing is hidden in a dense
                       fog of secrecy or confusion, or distorted by corruption, then
                       interest rates climb almost instantly. 

                       Our governments, banks, and businesses -- as well as global
                       institutions like the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO -- must
                       also open more of their activity to public scrutiny. Openness,
                       transparency, and greater disclosure are the surest path to
                       economic strength and investment from around the world. 

                       And let me add that while this global financial architecture is
                       vitally important for its own sake, we need to build confidence
                       in global commerce and communication across the board.
                       Together, we must avoid its pitfalls so we can seize its
                       profound potential. For one thing, we must all meet the
                       challenge posed by the Year 2000 problem -- to keep our
                       global computer networks strong. 

                       We must continue to promote the growth of global electronic
                       commerce -- which is expected to grow to more than $300
                       billion in just a few years -- I'm very pleased that APEC has
                       taken up this challenge. By the year 2010, we can triple the
                       number of people who can support their families because they
                       can reach world markets through the Internet. 

                       To make even more progress, we should hasten the completion
                       of the new Global Information Infrastructure, or GII -- a
                       network of networks that sends messages and images at the
                       speed of light, across every continent. I hope APEC will
                       continue to work toward this vision -- to build a true global
                       electronic village, to expand access to phone service and
                       communications, to improve the delivery of education and
                       health care, and to create new jobs and industries. 

                       I'm reminded of the prophetic words of one of my country's
                       great writers, Nathaniel Hawthorne. In 1851, inspired by the
                       telegraph invented 16 years earlier, he wrote these words: "By
                       means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great
                       nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of
                       time...the round globe is a vast ... brain -- instinct with
                       intelligence!" 

                       He might have been ahead of his time, but the simple fact is
                       that in today's global economy, we are all connected. Global
                       interdependence is not a policy -- it is a reality. As Prime
                       Minister Chuan has said, "no country can avoid being affected
                       by what happens halfway around the world." This is particularly
                       true when it comes to our environment -- which is why we
                       need shared global leadership on challenges such as global
                       climate change. 

                       And it is also true when it comes to trade. One third of
                       America's growth in the past five years has come from
                       expanding trade with other countries. If Asian workers lose
                       their jobs, they can't afford American farm products, and our
                       farmers suffer. If Asian stock markets drop, American investors
                       feel the tremors, and our families suffer. 

                       For this reason, expanded trade is a cornerstone of economic
                       recovery. We must take great care to ensure that what began
                       as a global financial crisis does not become a global trade
                       crisis. I urge you to consider what has happened to Asian
                       exports to America; they have gone up dramatically. And other
                       major industrial economies have not absorbed nearly as much.
                       I want to make one point crystal clear: the United States
                       cannot be the importer of only resort. All developed countries
                       -- whether in Asia, Europe, or the Americas -- must play a role,
                       and keep tearing down trade barriers. In the end, in this global
                       economy, protectionism will only protect us from prosperity
                       itself. 

                       In the past five years, the United States has been party to 260
                       new trade agreements, helping to open global markets in
                       everything from agriculture to automobiles. At the 1994 APEC
                       summit in Indonesia, we resolved to eliminate all trade
                       barriers in the region by 2020. We've made strong progress,
                       particularly with the 1996 Information Technology Agreement,
                       which lowered both tariffs and prices for computer and
                       telecommunications equipment. That agreement -- a proud
                       moment for APEC -- has now been embraced in other regions,
                       just one example of how our progress here has sparked free
                       trade around the world. 

                       Following the model of that agreement, just yesterday, APEC
                       trade ministers agreed to move toward opening trade in nine
                       key sectors, worth more than $1.5 trillion a year in global trade
                       -- and to build broader support for free trade in these sectors
                       through the World Trade Organization. 

                       These are not easy steps to take; all of us have faced pressure
                       in our own nations to turn inward; and embracing openness
                       requires leadership and vision. But in a tough financial
                       environment, it is more important than ever. Each and every
                       APEC economy must do its part. 

                       And as we open the doors to global trade wider than ever
                       before, let us build a trading system that lifts the fortunes of
                       more and more people. Let us include strong protections for
                       workers, for health and safety, for a clean environment. For at
                       its heart, global commerce is about strengthening our shared
                       global values. It is about building stronger families and
                       stronger communities, through strong and steady growth
                       around the world. 

                       That is why the future of free and robust global markets
                       depends so strongly on a third challenge -- one that surpasses
                       all the others, even as it supports all the others. It is
                       democracy, and the growth of self-government all around the
                       world. 

                       History has taught us that freedom -- economic, political, and
                       religious freedom -- unlocks a higher fraction of the human
                       potential than any other way of organizing society. 

                       And that means it is the best guarantee of prosperity in the
                       future. As President Kim Dae Jung has said: "Only a democratic
                       society will be able to take full advantage of the benefits of
                       the information age." If governments try to suppress the
                       creative potential of their people by denying them access to
                       information, they will undercut their own efforts to build their
                       economies. Any government that suppresses information,
                       suppresses the economic potential of the Information Age. 

                       Some take another view. They cling to the belief that
                       authoritarian rule makes it easier to impose the fiscal
                       discipline and financial sacrifice often necessary to weather
                       economic storms and spark growth. The facts refute that view. 

                       People will accept sacrifice in a democracy, not only because
                       they have had a role in choosing it, but because they rightly
                       believe they are likely to benefit from it. The message this
                       year from Indonesia is unmistakable: People are willing to take
                       responsibility for their future -- if they have the power to
                       determine that future. From Thailand to South Korea, Eastern
                       Europe to Mexico, democracies have done better in coping with
                       economic crises than nations where freedom is suppressed.
                       Democracy confers a stamp of legitimacy that reforms must
                       have in order to be effective. And so, among nations suffering
                       economic crises, we continue to hear calls for democracy and
                       reform in many languages-"people's power", "doi moi",
                       "reformasi." We hear them today -- right here, right now --
                       among the brave people of Malaysia. 

                       Citizens who gain democracy also gain the opportunity and the
                       obligation to root out corruption and cronyism; to support fair
                       regulation that protects consumers and businesses; to press
                       for sustainable development that protects the environment; to
                       gain access to education and health care; to uphold impartial
                       justice and the rule of law. And the citizens who launch these
                       reforms will help their countries prosper -- as investors put
                       their money and their faith in democracy, and pull it out of
                       nations where decisions are rigged, where bloated
                       bureaucracies sustain only themselves, where contracts are not
                       honored, and where government swallows up tax revenues
                       without working for the people. 

                       All who love freedom are obliged to redeem people's faith in
                       self-government. Investments move in the direction of strong
                       and deep democracy -- and so, too, has our world history. 

                       In closing, let us realize that more than ever before, the
                       world's eyes are upon APEC -- because so much of our
                       economic future rests in this region and rest on decisions
                       made by APEC. In the coming days, the leaders of APEC will
                       have an opportunity to meet the challenge of this crisis -- to
                       revitalize enterprise; to lift our citizens to greater prosperity;
                       to not merely heal the contagion, but to eradicate it. If we
                       take the right short-term actions, if we build a 21st Century
                       financial architecture for the 21st Century economy, and if we
                       find in free markets the more fundamental freedoms that they
                       nurture, I believe we can weather this global crisis together.
                       But it will take hard work -- and it will take strong leadership
                       from the Asian Pacific nations, as well as from the United
                       States and Europe. 

                       Fortunately, across this region, over a generation of
                       extraordinary progress, you have shown the world what is
                       possible. That is why American resolve is unshakeable -- and
                       we will stand with you for growth and stability at every step of
                       the way. So let us reaffirm the partnership and the purpose
                       upon which APEC was founded. Let us work even harder to
                       fulfill it. With so many hundreds of millions of jobs and
                       families depending on it, we certainly don't have a moment to
                       waste. Thank you.


