You're watching...
Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq John Negroponte argues that, in the long term, trade and private sector investments are key to resolving the mounting t...
Also in this playlist...
Auto-advance: ON
Auto-advance
This transcript is automatically generated
The concordia -- now when this claimant is being joined by -- former ambassador to Iraq lives.
Yes and he's very important because as we sit here at the concordia summit speaking specifically about public private partnerships where business.
Works with government ambassador John network talk to somebody who has extensive experience in this having been the first the US ambassador to Iraq and of course the US ambassador to the United Nations -- Is -- -- UN is in its general assembly right now welcome ambassador are you.
Thank you for joining us in a Fox Business exclusive you've just got back.
From Kurdistan in northern region of Iraq looking for business opportunities.
What -- -- find its.
Booming I couldn't believe my eyes at 700 flights today in the airport.
Haven't had a major terrorist incidents in five years.
Economy growing at.
1012%.
For years just incredible opportunities out there.
All we hear are -- about the bad news pieces such as the terrorist attacks attacks in the in lower lip lock them and tell me why shouldn't as a business person be here.
Go in there and help rebuild that nation.
Well I think you people have to you have to see it to believe it spent decades driven by oil production.
On the one hand they very determined Kurdish people who want their country.
To succeed they're all kinds of opportunities whether it's in the hospitality.
Interest hit industries services.
You name it there are opportunities out there but I I would agree -- -- it's very hard to overcome that initial.
The impression that people have -- -- It's associated with the Iraq and.
Must be some reason spell trouble when we go back to 2003.
As Iraq was being liberated from the clutches of Saddam Hussein a lot of US businesses eternal optimists also -- -- make money.
He jumped in -- heavily for opportunities.
In Iraq -- I remember the names Kellogg brown and -- Halliburton of course up and that.
It was Bechtel -- -- infrastructure companies.
A lot of them ended up happening back out or that was controversy or there was some fraud involved.
You know when you talk generally about public private partnerships.
The benefits outweigh the problems today not so.
They do but you do have to have security I think the fundamental problem in 2003.
It is the security wasn't there yet.
And therefore it became very -- dangers for a lot of these companies to go and operates one of the advantages of Kurdistan is it is very secure it's become secure.
In the past seven or eight years.
And so what I would say is that's probably a good platform not only for developing business -- stand -- also using it as a platform.
To looking at Arab Iraq so maybe you could visualize Kurdistan being.
To.
The broader Iraq the -- Hong Kong -- to China.
It's a platform for eventual growth throughout the entire country.
Let's talk about the Middle East in general.
Massive strike right now all kinds of protests that YouTube video where the filmmaker made -- -- let out to be.
Obviously.
You know -- womanizer all kinds of things that has completely touched off a firestorm in the Middle East.
We have seen the problems of Libya our own ambassador or -- -- murder it it's it it's a terrible time right now is it not.
Tragic period development.
In Libya Chris Stevens a great loss -- wonderful foreign service officers spoke Arabic peace corps volunteers.
Really love to get out -- and meet with the people he was set an incredible asset the United States it's a huge loss.
For us but I think -- we -- -- in the Middle -- there's some real challenges out there but I think they can be dealt with the key in my opinion it is Egypt.
That's the most populous country in the Arab world it's -- eighty million people.
It's gotta go the right way is -- gonna become like Pakistan -- -- -- gonna become like Turkey what's your best guess and well.
Well I have -- -- -- -- -- Miami -- we got to work comment I think we certainly have to continue our assistance programs will be.
And madness.
To cut them off we -- help Egypt -- stabilize its situation.
The -- help them build their economic linkages.
With other parts of the world like ourselves Western Europe trade trade and investment in my opinion that's the -- So ambassador or help Americans who are unemployed and hurting right now understand why we should continue to give billions of foreign aid to the I'm not that.
I mean certainly we gotta give some -- at the moment I don't think we should cut it off and lose the friendship.
-- we have established with the Egyptian village military and other institutions.
But over the longer term I really think it's business investment.
Private sector driven.
Prosperity that is going to be the answers so in my opinion the main thing is for our business community to see what opportunities that -- find out there.
Libya Tunisia Egypt again strike but business opportunities.
Lucrative contracts for businesses out there -- -- to the United States in your perspective.
You have worked for President Bush under President Reagan President Clinton as well.
Ambassadors to many different nations but what would you say about the best possible way for government to work with business.
To me the fundamental way.
News through trade and investment and I've dropped I've been referred back to my experience as the United States ambassador to Mexico and from 1989.
Tonight three which is when we negotiated the North American.
Free trade agreement -- -- today twenty years later trade with that country of Mexico has tripled quadrupled.
It's just amazing that several hundred million people cross the border every day.
This is an incredible.
Incredible development -- old days.
Initially on that North American Free Trade Agreement that promoted much greater commerce between Mexico the United States and also with -- Canada.
Do you feel were on pace right now to have an open trade in this country and then there.
People on both sides of the elegant very touchy about trade -- -- that they feel giant trades sometimes.
It's a pretty bum rap but I think one of the really good things was that -- got ratified the pending trade agreements.
-- Columbia.
-- -- with South Korea Panama that was a very important development because Colombia for example a country that is just really come through a very difficult.
Internal war they need that kind of trade and they are real model country at the moment in terms of economic development.
Time we've got some issues at the moment we've got some issues with Russia but in the long run.
Yes I believe.
Further liberalize trade with the rest of the world while of course protecting our intellectual property and those kinds of things we've got -- pursue that.
Ambassador John Negroponte -- ambassador to Mexico the Philippines in -- -- -- missing anything.
-- -- yeah that's right on dark and thank you so much for joining us an innocent consciousness down and you know --
