Mitt Romney photo

Romney Campaign Press Release - Summary Sheet: The Romney Vision For Foreign Assistance

September 25, 2012

Today, Mitt Romney will deliver an address on foreign assistance in New York City at the Clinton Global Initiative. He will outline his vision to bring our foreign assistance strategy into the 21st Century and harness the power of free enterprise to spur development.

Below is a description of the need for reform and of Mitt Romney's "Prosperity Pact" program that will harness the transformative power of free enterprise.

The Need For Reform

The United States is the most generous nation in the world in terms of foreign assistance, accounting for nearly a quarter of worldwide aid. However, much of our development aid meets with limited success and at times actually works against the goal of lifting populations out of poverty and into more beneficial relationships with the rest of the international community.

The core of the problem lies in the fact that our assistance architecture is not responsive to the demands of the modern, global economy and reflects an outdated way of thinking about the world.  Our assistance programs do not fully take into account that foreign aid no longer makes up the majority of capital flowing into the developing world as it did decades ago. While worldwide foreign aid is $130 billion, trade with the developing world currently amounts to $8.5 trillion and foreign direct investment is $663 billion. But too often, our foreign aid programs try to supplant private enterprise. And they concentrate too greatly on delivering social services instead of seeking policy reforms and building institutional capacity so that societies can afford to pay for critical social services over time.

To be effective, our aid programs must leverage private investment and trade to foster environments conducive to job creation. Free enterprise and institutions that support political freedom, the rule of law, and respect for human rights are critical ingredients for progress. If developing nations grow strong private sectors, they will become strong trading partners and friends of the United States.

Prosperity Pact Program

Mitt Romney will advance a new vision of foreign assistance that will focus our efforts on opening the gateway for free enterprise and personal liberty. Development assistance dollars must fill a role that only U.S. assistance can fill, not serve as a substitute for private enterprise and investment. 

Mitt Romney will implement a new Prosperity Pact program, which would constitute a bold break from the past. The United States has never created an integrated strategy that links trade policy with development policy. But development is driven by economic liberalization. Mitt Romney will ensure that our policies reflect that relationship.

Working with the private sector, the program would identify the barriers to investment, trade, and entrepreneurialism in developing nations. In exchange for removing those barriers and opening their markets to U.S. investment and trade, developing nations would receive U.S. assistance packages focused on developing the institutions of liberty, the rule of law, and property rights.

A core element of the program will be to support new financing structures for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A lot of work has been done in the area of microfinance. But microfinance is a poverty alleviation strategy and a much greater focus should be placed on SMEs that are too big for microfinance, but are too small to acquire much-needed capital from banks.  Empowering SMEs will allow developing nations to reach the global market and create an enduring cycle of growth.  

Mitt Romney, Romney Campaign Press Release - Summary Sheet: The Romney Vision For Foreign Assistance Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/303171

Simple Search of Our Archives