10 April 2006

Remarks by the Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer during visit to Mozambique on transparency

The deal between developed and developing countries agreed at Gleneagles is grounded in responsibilities that we believe it is to the benefit of all to accept - rich countries and poor countries recognising that they have mutual obligations and indeed responsibilities to each other.

No country has escaped poverty other than by participation in the international economy, focusing on macroeconomic stability and encouraging domestic and international private investment and transparency, with a clear sense of country ownership of their policies.

So all plans from developing countries must be underpinned by the openness, good governance and transparency they have stated is essential for their own development.

We must all open our books, be fully transparent and each of us account for our actions for all to see. Just as developed countries must continue to extend openness and transparency alongside increasing aid for development, so this must be matched by openness and transparency in not just some but all developing countries. It is right that the international institutions insist on monetary, fiscal and corporate rules and codes of conduct that ensure transparency; insist on action to root out corruption wherever it is found; and insist on greater accountability to their own people.

It is because we insisted on transparency in our debt relief initiative, agreeing that what was written off in debt payments had to go to education, health or poverty reduction, that the debt relief initiative has been more successful than previous initiatives in ensuring spending goes to public services and not to wasteful projects.

Similarly, 10 year plans for education will be based on transparency and clear deliverable outcomes for the funding committed. Countries will be accountable not just to donors but their own people for delivery.