Miroslav Lajcak Quotes

The biggest opportunity in 2013 is in Africa. It has seven out of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world. In Nigeria alone there are 100 million people with mobile phones. In total, 300 million Africans - five times the population of Britain - are in the middle class.

Compared to developed countries, or even to some major emerging countries, burdened by aging populations, financial crises, widening budget deficits, faltering faith in politics and growing social demands, Africa has become the world's last 'New Frontier:' a kind of 'it-continent.'

We have a growing interest in Africa’s success.

By the year 2040, the world's population is likely to increase by about 2 billion people, with also projected economic output will be up about 130 percent versus the year 2010.

I'm extremely optimistic about rapid transformation and change of things in Africa in general.

In the space of a decade, China and India have emerged as dramatic, dynamic competitors.

It is inconceivable that the rise of Asia could happen without the rise of the Indian subcontinent.

China's development benefits other countries.

Africa is no more this poor continent. It's on the march.

China is still a developing country with a myriad of tasks and challenges.

Many people in the world believe that in the 21st century, the Asia-Pacific - Asia in particular - will play a more important role in global economy and politics and that Asia will become an important engine for the world economy.

Well, as you've said, we cannot expect the people of China not to want to progress, so if you have an opportunity to progress, to develop your economy to a world class economy, it's an aspiration that is natural and that, I welcome.

This is our history - from the Transcontinental Railroad to the Hoover Dam, to the dredging of our ports and building of our most historic bridges - our American ancestors prioritized growth and investment in our nation's infrastructure.

You cannot blame the mismanagement of the economy or the fact that we have not invested adequately in education in order to give our people the knowledge, the skills and the technology that they need in order to be able to use the resources that Africa has to gain wealth.

Far from being hopeless, Africa is full of hope and potential, maybe more so than any other continent. The challenge is to ensure that its potential is utilised.

And I think that Africa is making progress that the world needs to recognize and assist the continent to continue on that path.

As the population of Georgia increased dramatically, so did development.

Africa has no time to lose. The global economy is fast leaving our continent behind.

My final aim is to bring Iran, within twenty years, to the same level of civilization and progress as will be enjoyed by the most highly developed countries. During the last ten years the degree of our backwardness has been halved, but it is this remaining backwardness which will be the most difficult to combat.

I've always said that L.A. is the city of America's future. It is to the world what London was in the 19th century and New York in the 20th because of the growth of the Pacific Rim countries. We're the portal to the emerging world.

Seoul is becoming a global city.

Visit any of the fastest growing parts of the world and you will find investment in infrastructure.

China and India are the success stories; rapid growth in large countries is an engine that can make a colossal dent in world poverty.

The thing that makes me most optimistic is China and India - both of them doing well. It's amazing how much progress there's been in China, and also India. Those are the places that really matter - they're half of the world's population. They're the places where things are enormously better now than they were 50 years ago. And I don't see anything that's going to stop that.

India can make rapid economic progress to become a developed country only through a globally competitive economy, which requires assured access to the markets and technological innovations of the United States and some of its allies such as Israel and Japan.