April  30, 2002

President Mubarak delivers nation-wide address on 
Labour Day

     Greetings to Egypt’s faithful workers, in gratitude, appreciation and love to them on their Day, the labour and production Day. This is a day for fidelity and offering, for growth and prosperity. It is a Day for every honourable Egyptian who toils; painstakingly exerting his utmost to reconstruct his homeland, benefit his people and seeks to achieve prosperity for his community. In so doing, they were guided by the injunction of Allah in the Holy Qur’an, And say unto them: Act! Allah will behold your actions, and (so will) His Messenger and the believers.

     Greetings in gratitude, appreciation and love, to regiments of development and soldiers of reconstruction, Egypt’s farmers who have managed, through relentless efforts, to cultivate our good soil. With the Nile waters reaching out to Sinai, and the kernel of a new civilization arising in Toshka, Sharq al-Uwainat, Darb al-Arba’een and other new areas, they managed to beat arid desert and bring about the aspired increase in arable land. The distinguished agricultural products of their areas bear witness to the fact that Egypt is not only the gift of the Nile but also the gift of its toiling and hard-working workers and farmers.

     A tribute is paid, in gratitutde and appreciation, to the makers of revival in modern Egypt workers and tradesmen who through tremendous efforts erected Aswan High Dam and Egypt’s huge industrial edifices in the 1960s and 1970s at Helwan, Nag’Hammadi, Kafr ad- Dawwar, etc. They have also built a considerable number of modern industries in the 1980s and the 1990s at as-Sadat 10th of Ramadan, al- Ubour, the 6th of October cities and other new cities. Here, the private sector has undertaken the greater share of responsibility for such enterprises, as barriers and restrictions have been lifted, allowing this sector to contribute at present to approximately 70% of the Gross Domestic Product, (GDP).

     Throughout history, Egypt’s workers have supported its national progress. Always with forward outlook to the future, they focued on quintessence rather than outward appearances. They have aligned themselves to the development cause as a consecrated goal that transcends all causes and slogans.

     Egypt’s workers have spared no effort in backing our progress towards economic reform. They have lent full support to the privitization programme which transferred the ownership of many public sector companies to the private sector. They have also welcomed all forms of foreign and Arab investment. This attitude stemmed from recognition on their part that the core of economic reform lies in the need by the national economy for new blood. This could be achieved through expanding ownership base of national production enterprises, encouraging the creation of new enterprises and industries, modernising already existing industries. Other means include increasing opportunities of market free competition based on improved quality and perfection, and mobilizing all energies to accelerate development efforts and to raise growth rates. This meant more job opportunities, improved export potential, higher per capita income and sustained upgrading of individual skills and abilities.

     Labour unions and trade union federations have always bolstered the orientation to economic reform. In many circumstances, they have played a significant role in safeguarding national stability, protecting it against the perils of many seditions that could have undermined our national unity. Through their conscious participation, they have managed to rationalize several reform decisions with a view to maintaining the social dimension. By such a mature stance, they have proved their allegiance to the core of the national mainstream. With their responsible awareness of the importance of keeping pace with international changes in a way that allows Egypt’s workers and farmers to make full use of the positive aspects and to avoid adverse aspects of such changes, they proved their ability to place national interests above all considerations.

     Brothers and Sisters,

     The world around us has radically changed due to successive events and variables that have caused shifts in international balance of powers. These have been also imposed on all new elements that should be taken into account, given their varying negative or positive impact on our home affairs with their different several interactions and directly on our national security.

     These political and socio-economic challenges confronting us, as well as others, have cropped up as a result of a number of successive world changes to our world. These started with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the downfall of the bi-polar system and the emergence of the unipolar system with its pros and cons ending in the tragic September 11 events. The latter have created new international and regional conditions radically different from world conditions prior to the events, considering that those events have jeopardized the interests and prestige of the unipolar superpower.

     The September 11 events have resulted in a radical change in the international security concept and its relationship with regional and national security concepts. The international community, with all its trends has realized the gravity of terrorism. Since the late 1980, we have cautioned, in successive outcries, against such danger. However, those warnings have not drawn any international efforts of significance to this end. In spite of lack of consensus on a definition of international terrorism and ways of addressing its latent causes; all parties concerned rushed to support the anti-terrorism campaign. Such support stemmed from a recognition that such campaign aims in the first place to safeguard humanity against its horrors. Meantime, it aims at eliminating its latent causes including political disputes, variations in socio-economic visions as well as cultural and ideological differences among various civilizations and regions.

     Reassurances have been made by various powers that the anti-terrorism campaign was not geared against the Arabs or Muslims. Moreover, we have categorically refused to classify the September 11 events within the context of inter-civilization conflict. However, implications of that campaign have given rise to a new state of affairs completely contradictory to all assurances hastily made by all to pacify the Arab and Islamic worlds.

     It was expected, after the anti-terrorism war in Afghanistan has successfully scored its targets with the support and backing from all countries, with the Arab and Islamic countries in the lead, that international efforts would proceed, with the same momentum, towards a just and fair settlement of existing political problems with respect to international legitimacy and human rights; foremost are those arising from forceful occupation of other’s territories, particularly the Middle East problem® Nevertheless, what has actually taken place was an abrupt change in the course of war against terrorism, which, I am afraid, would jeopardize its credibility and trust by peoples in both the Arab and Islamic worlds.

     As I mentioned before, the assertions and re-assurances to the Arab side were made by international powers supposedly capable of effectively intervening to bring about the required political settlement. The core of those assurances was that the long-standing Middle East problem would be solved through intensified political action within a comprehensive political vision proposed by the United States of America and supported by other international powers. This vision was based on international legitimacy resolutions Nos. 242 and 338, the Land-for-Peace formula, with the object of establishing a sovereign independent Palestinian state living side by side with the state of Israel in peace and security inside their own internationally recognized borders. It also provided for returning the occupied Golan to Syria and the remaining occupied territories to Lebanon. However, what actually took place on the ground was contradictory to all the promises and re-assurances. These international powers laid emphasis on security aspects on the ground, neglecting the pivotal role of political negotiations in creating a favourable climate to aleviate severe resistance.

    As a result, the anti-terrorism campaign was channelled to a new direction geared to bring about political gains to Israel at the expense of Arab and Islamic countries. This campaign was used as a means to eliminate the legitimate Palestinian resisitance to Israeli occupation. Even more, this campaign was used to bolster Israeli refusal to engage in direct political negotiations to implement the international peace vision approved by all international and regional powers.

    Consequently Israel has exceeded all possible bounds, with its inhuman practices geared to terrorize the Palestinian people and break their resistance to occupation. These practices constituted blatant violations of its international obligations under Geneva Fourth Convention as well as its obligations to human rights in general, and all the agreements signed with the Palestinian Authority under international and regional guarantees. The nature of such terrorism was particularly conspicuous in the attempt to eliminate the democratically elected Palestinian leadership, escalation of the legally and religiously obnoxious and inhuman practices against Palestinians, reoccupation of PNA territories, demolition of all symbols of the Authority including security systems and infrastructure and its refusal to respond to all calls made by all international powers and all resolutions issued by Security Council to cease aggression and withdraw its forces from the Palestinian territories in fragrant defiance to the international legitimacy and will.

    Despite our clear-cut and categorical condemnation of the use of violence against both Palestinian and Israeli civilians alike, yet we once again reassert that the occupation of Palestinian territories, with all concomitant, illegitimate and provocative practices are the main cause of escalation and vehemence of the Palestinian resistance. Thus, in order to halt resistance, occupation must come to an end, and this can be achieved only through serious endeavours whereby the major powers should undertake their responsibilities. They are called upon to submit to integrated political plans, to practice pressure on both sides-rather than one, and to be committed to a specific time frame.

    Hence, the fierce campaign launched by Israel against the Palestinian people and their leadership unjustifiably or illogically rests on an irrelevant analogy between the US war against terrorism in Afghanistan on the one hand and the Israeli war against unarmed Palestinian people that resists occupation.

    Therefore, major powers, with the United States in the forefront, are called upon to shoulder their responsibilities by:

    - Immediately ceasing Israeli provocative practices.

    - Obligating Israel to respect the democratically elected Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people.

    - Obligating Israel to immediately withdraw from the occupied territories within the framework of immediate implementation of international legitimacy resolutions, particularly Security Council resolutions Nos. 1402, 1397, and the Madrid Quatrian Statement issued on April 10.

    Probably the agreement by both Isreal and the Palestinian Authority on the US recent proposal involving a number of arrangements conducive to freedom of movement for President Arafat demonstrates with all clarity the importance of US role in achieving compromises through direct negotiations between both parties. At the same time, this further proves that strong US intervention, with specific proposals, within an integrated plan of political settlement can also bring about a real political detente that can in turn lead to the realization of security and mainterance of stability.

    Israel has to show a clear vision towards peace that matches with the Arab vision approved by the Beirut Summit. It should rest assured that military superiority, even if it covers all mass destruction weapons,will not guarantee the safety and security of the state of Israel and its citizens. The only guarantee for the security of the state of Israel and its people is the comprehensive peace based on equality and mutual respect. This peace will be unattainable failing complete withdrawal from the Arab territories or the establishing of an independent sovereign state, with Jerusalem as its capital.

    Until the time comes, Egypt will still steadfastly and confidently to support the Palestinian people’s struggle for independence. Moreover, Egypt will continue to furnish our brotherly Palestinian people with all political, economic and humanitarian support needed for surmounting their current ordeal and re-building the Palestinian Authority’s capabilities and infrastructure already destroyed by Israel. We will continue to ensure that Israel will commit to international legitimacy and rule of law, to recognize the Palestinian Authority and its leadership as a partner rather than an enemy. The only means for Israel to obtain peace and guarantee stability is to proceed together with PNA, through political negotiations to end occupation and establish the Palestinian state.

    Brothers and Sisters,

    Undoubtedly, the tragic events in the Palestinian territories have revealed the need for a new outlook, for an Arab collective security system that makes it more compatible with the current change in the relationship between the International and Arab security on the one hand and the relationship between Arab security as a whole and the respective national security of individual Arab countries on the other.

    The Arabs have shown sincere and good intentions towards peace, already confirmed in the 1996 Cairo Summit, where peace was adopted as our strategic choice. In addition, the Beirut Summit this year has adopted the Saudi initiative as an Arab initiative based on equivalence in rights and duties. However, some international powers seem to unjustifiably view these initiatives as the maximum possible ceiling to what we can achieve in the absence of Arab consensus to engage in a wide-range political, or economic confrontation. Their viewpoint stems from our inability to act in such appropriate manner and timing as to influence elements of active international power equation, especially in USA, European Union and Russian Federation. Each of these powers seek in the first place, to bolster their national and regional security in all fields by bringing about the required balance in their relationship with the Arab countries on the one hand, and the relationship between themselves and Israel on the other. Add to this, on the other hand, the internal pressures each of them suffers from strong communities seeking to champion this or that points of view.

    The question that we have to face up to on the Arab arena and to discuss honestly and openly is: Do we have the essentials needed to influence international powers in today’s world?; How far can we apply parallel pressures, with others’ with the object of overcoming or at least avoiding the harmful effects of such pressures on our Arab and pan-national interests at the same time?

    I am sure you agree with me that we do possess all essentials needed to this end; we have a significant political power that can be effective if properly invested and channelled from the scope of Arab subsidiary frameworks, each of which comprises a limited number of Arab countries, and directed to a broader, stronger and more comprehensive Arab framework. Thus, we can achieve the aspired-for political integration between the Arab countries, regardless of geographical location, or difference in system of government or political orientations.

    Within our countries, we have a significant economic power in the form of foreign investments by some Arab countries that contribute to the economies of several intrnational powers. These investments could be so channelled as to serve our causes and can be used to influence the decisions of these powers without affecting their profits or their economic returns .

    We do possess excellent and renewable human resources that, if properly utilized, can help realize our Arab interests inside and outside alike.

    What we need, today in addition, is a greater openness to the outside world, that transcends our efforts to achieve our national interests within our internal frameworks to influence events taking place in the world around us. We should not always wait until we are forced, from a defense position, to react in order to minimize damage or contain its effects. Rather, we should strongly and promptly take the initiative in the direction that most protects our national and Arab interests. In so doing, we should be armed with knowledge, faith, trust in God and our combined ability to influence all parties to the international balance to serve Arab causes.

    The world of today is one of mutual interests and unless the world has felt our ability to affect its interests in the same way it effects ours, we will have, then, lost one of the main elements of power of our Aarb nation. The best means to redouble our influencing potential is to unify our goals as early as possible to establish a strong Arab economic, political and information structure. With the participation of all Arab citizens in their own countries and in countries of emigration, such a structure should be a real support to the Arabs’ vital interests with the external world and reinforce the collective Arab security bonds. At the same time, it can achieve self-interests of individual Arab countries and their aspirations, prosperity and stability®

    I have a little comment to make on media. In USA, Canada,South America, Europe and in Asia, there are many satellite channels and so there are in the Arab world. Have you ever heard that any European satellite channel is used by a European country to assault another nation in the continent. It is only in the Arab world that our channels are used to sow seeds of dissention among Arab countries, but touch up none but the Arab nation.

    Brothers and Sons,

     Successive changes around us have imposed new international and regional situations that can have a significant effect on the the Egyptian national security in different dimensions as well as our pivotal role in the Middle East and the Arab World. This is one of the significant challenges we face now.

    Egypt has been always an oasis of security and stability protected by our youthful armed forces that are poised to deter any aggression and to teach whoever dares to think of doing any harm to our land a hard unforgetable lesson. In order for Egypt to maintain such status, we have to intensify our efforts to strengthen our domestic political and economic front in such a manner that places us always in the forefront. This must maximize our self-reliance, minimize our dependence on others. This must also add up to our capacity to influence regional and international events and help us meet our pioneering Arab responsibilities, chief of which is to push forward the peace process, put an end to occupation and establish the independent Palestinian State.

    In spite of the strong wrath expressed by the Arab People every where towards the Israeli brutal aggressions against the Palestinian people and its leadership, the Egyptian people have shown-as usual-unmatched awarness of the need for Egypt to maintain its leading role in protecting the Arab rights, while protecting at the same time, the Egyptian people’s interests. In this context, our people have recognized the need to safeguard their own gains and to stand against attempts that tamper with their future. This would in effect preclude the possibility of taking temporal emotional decisions that may negatively affect gains already attained or abort any potential gains in the future.

    I believe it is inevitable that all Egypt’s national decisions should be geared to boost our capability to take up our national and pan-national responsibilities and to bolster, on our own initiative, economic, political and military security. A powerful Egypt is such that takes up its pioneering role in conjuction with all Arab brothers to achieve the aspired-for Arab collective security. In its turn, this would help realize individual Arab interests side by side with pan-national interests.

    Brothers and Sisters,

    Within this integrated concept of national security requirements, we have to view economic challenges facing us. The political power of any nation is closely associated with its ability to achieve its economic and social security as well as the cohesion and integration of its internal front. While globalization poses as one of the important challenges brought about by new world changes, the right solution lies in our ability to make use of its positive aspects and to minimize its adverse aspects. Willy-nilly, globalization is bound to proceed forward. Therefore, unless we join the procession, promoting our performance and industry, improving quality of our products, enabling them to compete in terms of pricing and quality on international markets, the inevitable result would be falling development rates. Export is a wide-open gate to expand production base and create productive job opportunities for Egyptian youth. It is exportation that can guarantee for Egypt a steady source of hard currencies, invulnerable to emergency changes that may affect some other sources of hard currency or opportunities of the Egyptian employment abroad. Furthermore, exports are the only way to narrow the gap in the balance of trade and income disparities.

    Hence has been my continued interest in the question of export as a matter of life or death. Although I can see some progress in our export orientation through new policies and visions underway, we still need new outlooks to the production quality and pricing policies. These are the means to guarantee the position we deserve in the foreign markets. We still need to push the government and the private sector, each in its own domain, towards meaningful change and development for increasing export and overcoming technical and administrative obstacles that hinder our efforts to interact with modern economic activity.

    Probably, one of the most significant economic challenges to confront in the upcoming period is to provide necessary finance for development under different international conditions where industrial countries tend to reduce volume of economic aid, tying it to bilateral frameworks under conditions incompatible with our political, economic and social interests and orientations. Therefore, we need to raise growth rate of gross national product to 6 percent a year and volume of investments to more than LE 100 billion a year. We have also to take immediate actions to raise volume of domestic saving above its current rate. In order to attract more Arab and foreign investments necessary to finance development plans, we need to enhance Egypt’s competitiveness in the outside world.

    Hence, it is the incumbent duty of all state institutions to endeavour to improve the internal investment climate, to promptly resolve problems related to investors. They are also required to set right the course of industrial areas, so that they will be production-and-export-oriented. Business environment in Egypt must be improved by eliminating red tape, streamlining procedures providing wider space to the private sector, accelerating the privatization programme, encouraging youth to establish small-size enterprises through easy loans.

    Additionally, the experiment of exclusive economic zones have proved successful in a number of emerging economies such as China and Malaysia. Taking into consideration that we possess all the factors necessary to establish such zones, I asked the government to draft a law organizing establishment and management of exclusive economic zones in Egypt. The proposed law will include rules allowing us to use the latest management and control techinques. This would ensure interaction between the national and foreign capital in order to establish large-scale institutions and industries based on the state-of-the-art scientific and technological capabilities. This would result in an increased job opportunities, higher income, larger export volume and more national and foreign investments.

    Brothers and Sisters,

    The September 11 events have so adversely affected our national economy that we are still working to overcome such effects. In so doing, we are assisted by significant support already extended by some international financial organizations and a number of donor countries that pledged to offer long-term loans and credit facilities to help Egypt bridge the large gap between needs of foreign currencies and resources that were badly affected by these events.

    These offers were prompted by confidence on their part in prospects of the national economy and its ability to surmount these contigent obstacles.

    However, we must not peg our economic problems on the September events or take them an excuse to overlook the urgent need to proceed with the economic reform drive and modernize production sectors. This must be an imperative task since some factories have fallen so much below technological and technical standards that they are no longer able to produce high-quality or competitive commodities on world markets.

    Moreover, the shortcomings observed in some public services especially in transport and railways make us more determined to redouble our efforts to modernize raise efficiency of and provide security systems for these services. To this end, allocations for this sector will rise in this year’s budget.

    Education and health services are still in need of development and modernization. Although, we have raised appropriations for education by an additional LE 1.5 billion and that of health services by LE 0.5 billion, we still need more work and efforts within the framework of a national vision which requires us to steadily improve Egyptian citizens standard of living.

    However, unemployment will remain our fundamental issue. It is essential for our national security to provide several and varying sources of job opportunities through increasing local and foreign investments, pushing forward exports and rationalizing government expenditure.

    Moreover, it is a national security requirement for Egypt to so diversify sources of income in Egypt economy that any fall in oil revenues would be offset by non-oil exports such as textiles and engineering and farm products. Likewise, any slowdown in tourism would be offset by other service exports. All this must be geared to secure employment and create diversified job opportunities that can, combined, cope up with any international fluctuations, political or economic; eventually protecting our national economy against adverse effects of globalization.

    This is the approach of modern developing nations as well as of those nations that could tame and overcome the adverse effects of globalization. This is our approach to sa feguard our national security, resting on a multi-dimensional and strong economy with multiple energies; an economy that is not phobic about global economy nor about confident and efficient dealing with others.

    Unwearily, I will keep reminding the Egyptian people of the serious overpopulation problem which has so aggravated to limits beyond all prior warnings, that it now jeopardizes our chances for development. Last year, Egypt’s population hit 68 million with an increase of about 30 million over the past twenty years.

    Unless we join forces to face up to this tremendous problem with unconventional solutions, this huge overpopulation will undermine chances of improving standards of living. It will also lead to a rapid deterioration in public utilities and services, thus limiting Egyptian citizen’s grapple with the future to desperate efforts to maintain rather than steadily elevate the current standards of living.

    Brothers and Sisters

    In the face of these tremendous challenges, we have no choice but to strive on all frontiers in order to enhance Egypt’s energy, maintain its national security and build in the political and democratic domains as much as we do on economic and social domains. Moreover, we must not allow any one the chance to threaten our national existence.

    Our stalwart society is one of democracy, free dialogue and free expression of opinions and opposite opinions. It is a society where a partisan life enjoys political, legal and judicial safeganrds allowing partisan and political powers to function uncensored. Therefore, we intend to proceed forward with political reform, bolstering freedom of opinion and freedom of expression without limits. However, we call upon honest patriotic writers to keep away from provocation and to commit to reasonable democratic dialogue. Thus, the right opinion can be reached and the supreme interests and national security of Egypt can be maintained.

    We are determined to deepen the democratic path so as to allow the Egyptian masses to express their opinions about events taking place around them in conscious and organized manner, giving no chance for subversive forces to manipulate popular mass currents to realize non-national goals.

    We are determined to give political parties all chances to practice and develop their activities uncensored, so that hopefully such parties would turn into schools for patriotism, nurturing their cadres to an understanding of the real dimensions of the national security issue. They also expected to practice their roles through their representatives in the representatives council in such a way as to safeguard Egypt’s interests without any sterile overbidding.

    Brothers and Sisters,

    We have no other interest or goal but the commonweal of our homeland. To this end, no decision is impossible for us as long as it adds up to its progress and national security.

    The trust of responsibility requires that the interest of the homeland shall rise over all individuals and leadership and popularity considerations. So does it rise above all calculations of over flowing emotions and sweeping rage; above adventurous drifts that bet on all progress and stability already achieved.

    The trust of responsibility requires that a powerful Egypt must be the topmost priority. That is because a powerful Egypt is the best support for our Arab world in addressing crucial challenges that face us all.

    I pray Allah Almighty to guide us to the right path, to open up our insight to good and to clear our course to our folk through rightful means.

    Allah is the Best Sustainer and the Best Supporter May Allah’s peace and mercy be on you.