McClintock remarks on E3 Summit

Remarks by
Kenneth D. McClintock
Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
(as prepared for delivery)

E3 Summit
Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce

San Juan, Puerto Rico
April 7, 2011


Thank you Edgardo for the introduction… I would also like to express my appreciation to the Chairman of the Board of the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce, Raúl Gayá-Nigaglioni… and its Chairman-Elect, Salvador Calaf-Legrand, …as well Pablo Figueroa, Chairman of the Summit for the kind invitation to join you this morning, as well as the invitation you have extended to Governor Fortuño to address you later on today..

On behalf of the Government of Puerto Rico I am very pleased to welcome the many distinguished speakers, panelists and guests who have come to the Islands to participate in the First E3 Summit of the Americas 2011.

This Summit is an initiative for which the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce deserves to be praised and commended… it demonstrates the keen awareness of the business sector to provide a forum to discuss the path that Puerto Rico should take to global competitiveness.

Trade is a proven engine for economic growth… and if Puerto Rico is to develop an export economy it is clear by now that we should do much more than enact laws to make investment easier and more attractive.
An entrepreneurial spirit can be stifled by the wrong laws but the Legislative Assembly cannot create an entrepreneurial spirit by enacting the right laws.

There is no silver bullet… whether in life, in business or in government. You cannot think or will change… change takes effort… and the results do not happen overnight.

Developing a true export economy is likely to require a profound change in the way that we think… and in how we see ourselves individually and collectively as a society.

And that will certainly take a different kind of education than that which, for decades, we have been providing in our schools and universities… For starters, it will require a civic education curriculum… one in which students learn that a truly free society cannot exist without a market economy… and that individual liberties and economic freedom are an integral part of the fabric of democracy.

Entrepreneurship cannot thrive in a society that does not value the role of the business sector in achieving a better quality of life… and much less in a society that distrusts the business sector and believes that the interests of the business sector are in opposition to the welfare of society.

What kind of beliefs and values are being instilled in our students? What kind of society is being developed in our schools and universities…?

Having the right kind of education is crucial… but we would be somewhat naive if we believed that education alone would be sufficient to achieve the kind of society we intend to build. The change that Puerto Rico needs will require strong and continued support for the policies that will take us where we need to go… and that means that the private sector must be fully involved in the public policy debate.

The E3 Summit of the Americas is an important step in the right direction.

The potential for a future of growth and prosperity is before us. I am confident that together —government, the business sector, and the academia— we can make that potential a bright reality.

Thank you for being here.