Evidence of meeting #38 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was companies.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:05 p.m.
Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator, Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, U.S. Agency for International Development
The Peace Corps.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Dave Van Kesteren Conservative Chatham-Kent—Essex, ON
The Peace Corps, yes.
We conducted a study about two years ago. We haven't completed it at this point. The election disrupted that. We were talking about the possibility of developing something similar to that with retired civil servants. I wonder whether you have explored that.
Again, with so many of these emerging economies, especially in countries like Mongolia, as an example, there is a real desire to move forward and adopt some of the principles of democracy but they have absolutely no infrastructure. I'm curious if USAID has experimented or begun to experiment, and what success have they had?
4:05 p.m.
Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator, Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, U.S. Agency for International Development
Both the Peace Corps and USAID have experimented with that. You don't have to be 21 to enter the Peace Corps; you could be 55 or 60 and enter the Peace Corps with your specialized expertise.
When the Berlin Wall fell, AID stood up 22 missions in eastern Europe. One of the Supreme Court justices of Washington State went over to Estonia, and he set up the entire court system. We think this is a huge opportunity for expertise, whether it's in democracy or governance.
In Ghana they were growing a lot of pineapples, but most of them were being rejected by the buyers. In one of the big beverage companies embedded in the department of agriculture in Ghana there was a logistics expert—not somebody who actually knew anything about agriculture, but a logistics expert. They went from rejecting most of the pineapples to 90% of the pineapples being accepted a year later and making enough pulp to satisfy the local needs, as well as exporting the pineapples to Europe.
I'd say that we don't do as good a job as we could about accessing that talent, but you're absolutely right, it can be a.... We have really reached out, particularly in the diaspora, and we have a big initiative of accessing the diaspora, because they have huge skills and are very motivated to go back to help their home countries in some way.
4:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Thank you very much, Mr. Van Kesteren.
We'll move back over to Mr. Eyking. You have seven minutes.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. O'Neill, for coming here today.
You alluded to developed countries, or G-20 countries, and said that one of the best ways for them to help underdeveloped countries is through foreign guest workers. These workers are working in their countries and sending money home. You even mentioned that you're helping with the money transfers. It goes to the schools and to facilities like those. So you must be very much in favour of that.
Would you be concerned if some of these G-20 countries started limiting these foreign workers who are coming in? Not only would you be disrupting these men, mostly, who would have to go back to no jobs, but you would also have to backfill with aid to these countries, because you would.... Do you see it as both a really good thing for the businesses in a developed country and as a really good form of aid? Should a country not really look at changing that policy?
4:10 p.m.
Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator, Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, U.S. Agency for International Development
The foreign guest worker program and immigration in particular is beyond the scope of AID or my remit. I would say that it's not something we actually take a position on.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
4:10 p.m.
Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator, Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, U.S. Agency for International Development
But it's not only guest workers. It can be citizens. It can be wherever there are remittances.
My mother was born and raised in the U.S. She adopted a family in Uganda that she has helped support for a long time. She sends them money. She can only send them money when she finds somebody who is actually going to Uganda. And she worries about whether it ever gets there.
Remittances apply not just to foreign guest workers. It's the whole range of who the remittances are coming from in developed countries and why.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
The other thing you mentioned was the emerging economies, such as the BRIC countries. Two-thirds of the big increase in economic activity in the world is going to come from those countries.
That being said, when you look at Brazil, Russia, and India, they're not really big players in international aid. China is starting to play a big role, especially in Africa, but it's very different, let's say, from that of the European or American countries. They almost have a bit of a colonialism mentality when they send in aid. There are all these strings attached. They have first dibs on the commodities and things like that.
What is your concern? What is the United States thinking of doing about it? We have that kind of aid coming into Africa, with those strings attached. But also, you're attaching aid to big companies that are coming in and delivering it. Are there any concerns about that, from a U.S. standpoint?
4:10 p.m.
Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator, Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, U.S. Agency for International Development
We don't have an assistance relationship with China, but we do with a number of the BRICs. What we have done is work with India and Brazil, in particular, to try to help them with development assistance and to have them partner with us to do it in ways we think fit our values and our approach.
4:10 p.m.
Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator, Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, U.S. Agency for International Development
We've done it with India, on food security in Africa, and we've done it with Brazil on chicken farmers in Mozambique. What we're trying to do is take the people who are transitioning from patronage to partnership, as Secretary Clinton would say, and partner with them in a way that meets our values with respect to development.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
In your opening statement you mentioned President Obama. Focus on countries that will not need aid in the future is what I think you said. Is that what you said? Help them get off the aid. Can you expand on what you meant by that?
4:10 p.m.
Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator, Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, U.S. Agency for International Development
What President Obama said is let us imagine when aid is no longer needed. I'll give you a specific example.
One of the very first countries AID ever operated in was South Korea. South Korea had a lower per capita income than any of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and now it is an economic powerhouse. That's obviously the gold standard of what we would like. If you compare North Korea to South Korea, in the future we'd like to see more South Koreas.
It is an aspirational goal. I'm not suggesting that in our lifetime the 79 countries in which we operate will become South Korea powerhouses. But we think about our aid and our approach very differently if we start with the end or our exit strategy. That's what he was challenging us to do.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
I have two more questions.
You mentioned how many countries you're doing now. Is it 79?
4:15 p.m.
Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator, Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, U.S. Agency for International Development
It's 79.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
Right now, the present government here is really diminishing the number they're focusing on into the twenties. That being said, if a country decides to not help a whole bunch of countries, who's going to fill the void? Does it end up putting more on the shoulders of the United States?
4:15 p.m.
Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator, Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, U.S. Agency for International Development
Well, I don't know the answer to that. What I do know is that we are trying in countries from which people are exiting—particularly in Africa, where there are a lot of mineral resources, so we imagine the conditions are such that they can afford this—to set up some enabling conditions so there's transparency and there are goals so that transition goes well. I think it becomes all the more important for not only public-private partnerships but also foundations and NGOs. It becomes all the more important to begin to think about remittances and the whole capital flows to these countries and how you can leverage them to create better outcomes more quickly.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
You mentioned what you're doing in Peru, helping them. I don't know how many farmers you're helping in Peru, but is it more than just helping them with growing techniques? Do you also help them in opening trade links? For instance, if they're growing a lot more blueberries or raspberries, or whatever they're growing, do you also help them with airlines and with opening up channels for them to flow their products? Is the United States doing more than just helping them with their growing techniques?
4:15 p.m.
Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator, Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, U.S. Agency for International Development
Part of it is access to markets domestically. What I don't know, but I will make sure I get back to you on, is whether the scope of that project includes any export. Primarily, we have looked at increasing the robustness of domestic supply chains, and we've been focused on export commodities, but that doesn't mean we don't think that's a valuable source of foreign direct investment and private capital flow. So I'll take that and get back to you on the trade piece.
4:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Thank you very much.
We're now going to start our second round, which will be five minutes. Mr. Dechert and Ms. Brown are going to share their time.
May 30th, 2012 / 4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Bob Dechert Conservative Mississauga—Erindale, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Dr. O'Neill, for being here today.
You mentioned the importance of diaspora remittances. Both Canada and the United States have very significant diaspora populations from virtually every country in the world. Can you tell us a little bit about how your organization has worked with diaspora business entrepreneurs from the United States to try to make investments in those home countries? How do you motivate them? I commend you for the project with the school fees in the Philippines. A lot of the people who live in my city come from the Philippines and they work very hard to send that money back, and it's to go for circumstances like that, to support families back home. It's terrific that you're helping to make those flows go directly to the schools and other institutions that support their families.
I also note that you're working with Scotiabank in Haiti, and perhaps other places. These electronic payment mechanisms I think could be helpful in facilitating those remittances at a lower cost than the current costs of remitting funds to many of these countries through other third-party organizations.
Perhaps you could comment on the whole diaspora business situation.
4:15 p.m.
Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator, Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, U.S. Agency for International Development
I'll tell you three things.
One is that Secretary Clinton and USAID have set up a diaspora alliance, which she announced a year ago, and we will see partnerships, and it will really get off the ground at the end of July. So we want to develop an infrastructure over time that is independent of us so that you don't necessarily always have to have us as the broker in terms of diaspora projects.
The second thing is that where specific diaspora know about specific projects, oftentimes the foundation representing that diaspora or some other has come to us with a specific proposal, and we've looked at it. If we believe that it creates enough value, we may co-fund it.
The last one, which we're most excited about—and we've tried it in Africa and in the Caribbean—was a marketplace. A lot of these members of the diaspora have actually made a fair amount of money, and they want to invest in the countries, but they don't actually have any deal flow. So we have developed an African marketplace and a Caribbean marketplace—and in these cases we did so with Western Union—through which we go find a bunch of small businesses that are interested in expansion capital, and we provide transparency to the diaspora in the U.S. We've done it twice, with Africa and with the Caribbean, and we're about to do our second African marketplace. We think that has a lot of applicability.