Trade versus Democracy: A False Dichotomy
Tuesday, 29 November 2005, 10:45 am
Press Release: Tear Fund
TEAR Fund Press Release
For Immediate Release: 29/11/05
Trade versus Democracy: A False Dichotomy
TEAR Fund
New Zealand considers the current debate between
Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon and Prime
Minister Helen Clark over trade versus democracy misplaced.
“Far from a ‘throw away line’, the Secretary General has
raised the significant tension between trade and democracy,"
says TEAR Fund Executive Director Stephen Tollestrup.
"The fact is, this is not an ‘either or’ issue, instead
it is a 'both and’. Trade and democracy should be two sides
of the same coin. The issue neglected in all of this is
access to fair credit for the poor."
TEAR Fund is New
Zealand's leading Microcredit agency to the developing
world, and has long believed access to fair credit is a
human right. Without such access, the vast bulk of small
business ventures among the poor are held ransom to
extortionist and black-market loan racketeers, creating a
never ending poverty cycle.
"For talk of trade and
democracy to have meaning, there is the need to liberate the
vast potential of this entrepreneurial underclass that is
estimated to number up to one
billion."
ENDS
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