Every country I go to, people want to know how they can get Bill Gates or Jack Welch to invest, and bring jobs. Enforceable commercial laws are a good start. Companies look at the infrastructure, also, and at the skills and training of the workforce. They look at whether there is political stability, and at labor laws. We certainly applaud Bangladesh, for efforts to stamp out child labor.
Companies also look at the weather.
We can't prevent horrible natural disasters, but the U.S. Commerce Department has been working with our friends in Bangladesh for more than a decade, on predicting climate changes better, so that we can do better forecasts. Let me say, that with the right policies in place, we could see sharp increases in American investments in your rich energy resources. This will reduce air pollution, which is a major problem in just about any urban area in the world. And it will fight climate change. Bangladesh will be the first to receive funding, also, under a U.S. program that converts old debt to new funding to protect tropical forests.