Friday, July 10, 2009

Barack Obama sure loves Korea.

At a news conference afterward, Mr. Obama said that when his father came to the United States, his home country of Kenya had an economy as large as that of South Korea per capita. Today, he noted, Kenya remains impoverished and politically unstable, while South Korea has become an economic powerhouse.

“There had been some talk about the legacies of colonialism and other policies by wealthier nations,” he said, “and without in any way diminishing that history, the point I made was that the South Korean government, working with the private sector and civil society, was able to create a set of institutions that provided transparency and accountability and efficiency that allowed for extraordinary economic progress and that there was no reason why African countries could not do the same.”

He continued: “And yet, in many African countries, if you want to start a business or get a job you still have to pay a bribe.” While wealthier nations have an obligation to help Africa, he said, African nations “have a responsibility” to build transparent, efficient institutions.
Unveiling Food Plan, Obama Presses Africa on Corruption (New York Times)

(Check out the picture for the article: "Sarkozy, seriously, if you don't shut up now, you'll be saying hello to the back of my hand in two seconds.")

(UPDATE: BOO- they moved the picture to the smaller box in the middle of the article.)

4 comments:

  1. DOes that mean Sarko is a fly?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, pretty much.
    He has the size, the class and the usefulness of a fly, so one can safely say he is one.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Last year I had a trip to a tiny country in Africa and the first thing that was asked of me by the immigration was for a bribe. It may not sound that surprising, but I was travelling as a government employee and they still charged me the bribe!

    ReplyDelete

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