Opening Statement by the Special Envoy for International Cooperation on Combatting Terrorism and Transnational Organized Crime Alexey SAFONOV at the opening ceremony during the Russian Day at the Third Annual Conference on Global Security Issues

Belgium, Brussels, 23 February 2006

Mr. Chairman,

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me once again express my appreciation to the World Customs Organization and the East-West Institute - hosts of the Third Annual Conference on Universal Security, as well as sponsors of this third, "Russian", day of the meeting - for their understanding, cooperation and kind assistance.

I am fully confident that our today’s work - the "Russian Day" of the Conference - will become a logical follow-up to a wide and fruitful discussion of the last two days. I must admit that many questions addressed here have provided Russian representatives with information and ideas which we will enthusiastically use today and in our future work on the ways to strengthen the international counterterrorist cooperation.

We are deeply satisfied that this respected and representative audience was chosen for the introduction to the general public - political, academic and business alike - of the initiative on Public-Private Partnership for Counter-Terrorism which is one of the important undertakings of the Russian G8 Presidency. We are particularly happy to see among us today Franco Frattini, Vice-President of the European Commission and Evgeni Primakov, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

Our G8 partners have supported this undertaking and expressed their willingness to take an active and interested part in its implementation. I believe that it is for this reason that many representatives of the G8 Member States have come here today.

I deliberately avoid going deep into the discussion of terrorist threat itself. Everyone of us understands its nature, its scale, its dynamics and, what is most important, its unfortunately long timing cycle. Here, it is appropriate to recall a witty remark by L.Trotsky devoted to war: "You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you". In the context of terrorism, this is becoming even more relevant.

The ideology behind our initiative seems simple and straight-forward: the business world is a natural ally of public authorities in confronting terrorist ambitions, in safeguarding economy from terrorist threats, in maintaining stability, which is the most favorable precondition for its development.

States and governments are interested in engaging the business community in common efforts aimed at countering terrorism, as the danger of terrorism is of a global nature not only in terms of territories it encircles, but also in terms of being a threat to the entire society, all of its elements, its fundamental principles and values, i.e. this is a threat affecting everyone everywhere and it is here to stay. Thus, the fight against terrorism demands joint efforts not only on part of all States, but of all constituents of modern society. Hardly anyone would argue that business people are the most active, vigorous, and independent actors in social and public processes, pro-active participants in solving many practical issues of modern life. However, business community is not less interested in this alliance.

The contribution of the business world to preventing the threat of terrorism must and should be an essential one. It seems that so far this contribution cannot be recognized as such.

This seems to be explained by the lack of an adequate public-business mutual understanding and trust and by poor coordination with respect to achieving an essentially common goal of terrorism prevention.

The paper you are encouraged to consider - a draft Charter (or Strategy) on Public-Private Partnerships for Counter-Terrorism - represents the main document of the Russian initiative under the aegis of the G8 and our attempt to formulate principles and views that could be supported by both governments and business community at the national and international levels and that could promote mutual understanding, trust and coordination between governments and public community for the benefit of counter-terrorism.

The draft preamble outlines general principles related to the threat of terrorism and the necessity to oppose it. We believe that the adoption of principles such as condemnation of terrorism, sympathy for its victims, preparedness for cooperation, and respect for human rights - would allow governments and business community to perceive common human values as the foundation for joint endeavors.

The second part of the draft highlights forms of such common endeavors. They include both already existing (exchange of information) and innovative (joint antiterrorist exercises) activities. Those who would agree to work on the document and adopt it may enlarge or reduce the list of these activities. I believe that in any case this would manifest the possibilities of public-business interaction along the antiterrorist track.

The third part of the draft outlines specific fields and forms of such interaction. Here we could identify those spheres and projects that would allow governments and business community to reach meaningful results even today, as they have achievements and a great mutual interest in spheres such as transportation, critical infrastructures and financial sector.

We by no means consider this project as a final framework for future work. This is just a first version which is already getting feedback from our G8 partners and our partners from the business community. Not all of the feedback is positive, so there are points for discussion.

We welcome this and are open to any criticism and improvements. The main thing is that there is a notable interest both on the part of states and business. We hope that today’s deliberations will give us an opportunity to gather a lot of substantial comments and suggestions on our initiative, to discuss some of them interactively and take note of everything for further consideration.

We would like to indicate clearly that the strategic goal of our initiative for the current year is to develop a solid, modern and meaningful Charter, or Strategy, of Public-Business counterterrorism partnership to be adopted at a prestigious and representative forum that will be held in Moscow this November, and thus to initiate an independent international process of counterterrorism partnership between states and the business community that would provide an appropriate framework for contacts, interaction and discussion of terrorism-related issues necessary to address the relevant problems in the spirit of mutual interest, good will and partnership.

Finally, the Russian sponsors of the initiative feel it necessary to reassure our business partners that the proposed partnership will in no way compromise the independence and autonomy of the business community. Such an interaction is and will remain completely voluntary. On the other hand, we realize that government institutions should not underestimate or disregard the capabilities and needs of business actors, especially those involved in the transportation industry, high-tech and critical infrastructures, and energy sector. These capabilities are not only related to technological, information and financial potential, but are also a matter of political, moral and civic stand. We just have to realize as soon as possible the importance of cooperation and combining efforts of states and business for combating terrorism; indeed, we should have done so long ago.

Thank you.