ChevronTexaco Chairman and CEO David O'Reilly addresses World Economic
Forum
Posted: 24 January 2004
Urges business leaders to join the fight against global
poverty
ChevronTexaco Chairman Dave O'Reilly today urged business leaders
to take on the "defining challenge" of the 21st Century
-- global poverty.
Speaking during a plenary session entitled "The Imperative
of Partnering Against Poverty" at the World Economic Forum
in Davos, Switzerland, which included a keynote speech by President
Chissano of Mozambique, O'Reilly shared his views on why business
must care about the world's poor and the need to help them achieve
a standard of living approaching that enjoyed by the developed world.
"Business must care not only for ethical and moral reasons,
which I think we all share," O'Reilly said, "but it's
also in our own financial interest to care. Business must do what
it does well, bringing collateral benefits to the people in countries
where we operate. The key to poverty reduction is the creation of
economic growth. This requires human capacity, financial stability
and strategic planning. The impact on a community from a project
must be long term, must meet a continuing need and has to be accompanied
with local capacity building.
"But we cannot succeed alone," O'Reilly added. "By
itself, no single entity or organization can effectively address
poverty. We need to tie companies, governments, communities and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) together in ways that can
leverage our efforts across nations and regions. But this also calls
for mutual trust between all those actively working to alleviate
the deficit of basic human need."
As an example, O'Reilly cited ChevronTexaco's $50 million initiative
in Angola, which brings together a diverse group of development
partners working to create sustainable, scalable projects that could
help the nation rebuild from its protracted civil war.
"With our 40-year history in Angola, we wanted to help,"
O'Reilly said. "But we knew we could never tackle such a project
by ourselves. We turned to NGOs with expertise in agriculture, finance
and education -- even seed multiplication and goat raising. We worked
with the government of Angola, international banks and development
agencies and, most importantly, with communities and rural villagers
themselves. One initiative alone, aimed at reviving the nation's
small farms, will have helped nearly 900,000 Angolans by the end
of this year.
"The point is success will only come through new partnerships
and coalitions that combine our separate strengths," he said.
O'Reilly also called on governments to re-engage in the Doha round
of the World Trade Organization and to boost trade and self-sufficiency
in the developing world by a reduction of tariffs and agricultural
subsidies.
Based in San Ramon, Calif., ChevronTexaco is the second-largest
U.S.-based energy company and the fifth largest in the world, based
on market capitalization. More than 53,000 ChevronTexaco employees
work in approximately 180 countries around the world, producing
crude oil and natural gas, and marketing fuels and other energy
products.
For more information see http://www.chevrontexaco.com/
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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