Remarks at the Launch of “Connect 2022” Initiative at CEO Summit
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much. There will be a lot of important aspects of this Summit of the Americas, but I think there will be none more important than this first-ever CEO Summit of the Americas, and in particular this initiative that Minister Cardenas just was describing, to connect our hemisphere. I wish to thank the Minister Andres Gluski, Luis Alberto Moreno, and Luis Carlos Villegas for their leadership in pulling this together. Let me also recognize the World Bank and the Organization of American States for their support of the Connecting the Americas 2022 initiative that we are highlighting today.
Virtually every issue that we discuss at this summit, from fighting poverty to preventing and responding to disasters to improving physical safety, security for our citizens requires support from the private sector. So we need your ideas, your perspectives, and, yes, your resources. We need to hear from you and we need to work with you. I am very grateful that Colombia has included this summit in the agenda for the overall summit, and I thank all of you for being part of it. And I also wish to thank President Martinelli for being here with us.