President Clinton has just announced the Safe Skies for Africa Initiative, and has asked me to give you the background and details of this important initiative. Transportation is the tie that binds. It brings people together, gives them mobility to pursue opportunity, encourages the free flow of ideas.
Aviation is vital to the ability of nations to be active in the growing global economy.
Today, nearly half of all world commerce is conducted by air. A modern, safe, efficient aviation system will attract foreign investment and promote trade and tourism. In order to further develop our aviation relations with Africa, we need to focus on safety and security. So a major goal of the Safe Skies initiative is to help African nations upgrade their civil aviation systems. We will offer technical assistance to countries to make their air traffic systems safe, and their airports secure.