US seeks trade, business ties with South Sudan
6 min read(AFP)
WASHINGTON — The United States on Thursday highlighted a series of steps to help develop South Sudan’s economy, at the end of a conference designed to give a boost to the new country’s development.
Washington said the US Treasury Department would issue two licenses that bypass sanctions on Sudan to allow financial transactions by South Sudan’s petroleum and petrochemical industries.
The Department will also permit the transshipment of some goods, technology and services to entice greater investment to South Sudan.
The White House said in a statement that it wanted to expand trade between the United States and South Sudan.
Officials were assessing whether South Sudan is eligible for duty-free treatment on footwear and agricultural products and other goods under the US African Growth and Opportunity Act.
The US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was also working out how to open in South Sudan, the White House said.
The two-day conference, in the presence of South Sudan President Salva Kiir, was organized in Washington by the United States, the European Union, and the African Union, among others.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday urged South Sudan to manage its oil windfall well, warning that the new country’s wealth could be a curse that holds back development.
“We know that it will either help your country finance its own path out of poverty, or you will fall prey to the natural resource curse,” Clinton told a conference aimed at boosting international support for South Sudan.
That curse “will enrich a small elite, outside interests, corporations and countries, and leave your people hardly better off than when you started,” the chief US diplomat said.
She held up oil-rich Norway, a key supporter of South Sudan, and diamond-rich Botswana as positive examples of nations that have successfully managed their natural resource wealth.
South Sudan — which emerged in July as an independent state from a referendum outlined in a 2005 agreement that ended two decades of civil war — possesses most of the oil fields from the former united Sudan.
The United States fears fighting along the border between Sudan and South Sudan could undermine implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended a two-decade civil war and led to the south’s independence.
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South Sudanese President Says Country Open for Business
By Carolyn Presutti
South Sudan became an independent nation in July, and it’s looking for business. An international conference in Washington Wednesday and Thursday is focusing on the new country in Africa and featuring speeches from President Salva Kiir and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But a South Sudanese American living in Washington says there’s much more to be done before economic development succeeds.
The South Sudanese president greeted Washington, wearing his trademark American cowboy hat. International investors welcomed him as a celebrity.
“I want to invite you today to come with me to South Sudan after this conference to help develop our potential in oil, gas and mineral resources,” Kiir stated.
The oil is a boon for the world’s newest country, but it’s also a strain. South Sudan ended up with 70 percent of the oilfields in its independence break up. But South Sudan is landlocked. So it relies on Sudan to the north for pipelines.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said oil can lift South Sudan out of poverty. But she warned of the prospect of poor management.
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“You will fall prey to the natural resource curse which will enrich a small elite, outside interests, corporations, and countries and leave your people hardly better off than when you started,” Clinton said.
South Sudan became a new country after decades of war. Continuing border violence has displaced hundreds of thousands. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army fought for the south’s independence. Angelos Agok was one of them. Now, he’s an American citizen,
He’s proud he helped South Sudan win its freedom. And proud of his old boss who became president. Still, he’s worried about how international companies do business in South Sudan.
“These companies bring these people from their country and employ them 100 percent. I will tell you, including those who clean the floor are not South Sudanese. And so, it doesn’t create any economy,” Agok noted. “And doesn’t create job security for the people whom we fought for.”
To the South Sudanese, independence means more than a separate country, separate government. Agok says his countrymen have basic needs like food and jobs. And, only then will they have true peace.
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