U.S. Ambassador Frank E. Baxter welcomes guests and local media to the International Education Week celebration held at the Ambassador's Residence on Wednesday, Nov. 28. Ambassador Baxter focused the celebration on what he calls "the most important subject in the world today," the shortage of skilled workers as baby boomers begin to retire in droves. "Without more trained workers, economic growth will decline throwing the world into prolonged stagflation," Baxter remarked. First held in 2000, International Education Week (IEW) is now celebrated in more than 100 countries worldwide. The Departments of State and Education initiated IEW as part of their efforts to move ahead on the issue of implementing U.S. international education policy. IEW is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint annual initiative is part of an effort to promote international understanding and build support for international educational exchange.
Public Affairs officer Robert Zimmerman interacts with Uruguayan school children during International Education Week celebration held at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence. This year’s theme, International Education: Fostering Global Citizenship and Respect, recognizes the importance of teaching our children to be responsible, respectful world citizens. Through international education students can better understand global issues by learning other languages and experiencing other cultures first-hand.	Ambassador Baxter and Uruguayan Council for Primary Education's general director, Edith Moraes enjoy the IEW celebration event including presentations by Fulbrighter Jose Luis Badano, professors Shirley Romano and Laura Mota, Youth Ambassador and DESEM-Junior Achievement programs participants, Iniciativa Latinoamericana's representavive sociologist Juan Jose Mere and a stop-smoking demonstration by students from a local public school.
Fulbrighter Jose Luis Badano speaks about the merits of the Fulbright Program. Badano completed his Master’s in molecular biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.	Youth Ambassadors Lucía Recalde, Valentina Groposo, Renzo Costa and Mauricio Ferrao spoke about their experiences in the United States.
Virtual Enterprise contest winners Maria Agustina Macagno, Valentina Blanco and Carla Giovanoni.	Public school children take turns to speak about the dangers of smoking.

"Please give the gift of optimism to any youth you meet. Tell them that you know they can learn and succeed, that you will help them, and that you expect them to succeed. I’ve tried it thousands of times, and it is the closest thing to a miracle that I have experienced," stated U.S. Ambassador Frank E. Baxter, speaking in Spanish, during the celebration of International Education Week held at the Ambassador's Residence in Montevideo, November 28, 2007.

Following is a translation of Ambassador Baxter's remarks as prepared for delivery:

(begin transcript)

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION WEEK CELEBRATION
Residence of the U.S. Ambassador
Montevideo

Wednesday, 28 November 2007

MESSAGE FROM THE UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO URUGUAY
FRANK E. BAXTER

I am pleased to welcome you to the Ambassadorial residence today as we use International Education Week to focus on the most important subject in the world today. That subject is preparing more of our human capital to reach its potential in the 21st Century.

I am not a professional educator, but I have been in the human resources business my entire career. As the Chief Executive Officer of two large firms, my foremost duty was to recruit talent, to train talent, to retain talent, and to motivate talent. In this century, no resource is anywhere as important as human resource. Everything else is a commodity. Any organization, whether it is a corporation, an institution, or a country that doesn’t focus on that reality is due to decline.

The first part of the reality is that the world has a very serious shortage of skilled workers and the situation is getting worse. As baby boomers retire, they are not being adequately replaced. In my country, it is estimated that there will be 30 to 40 million open positions within the next 5 to 10 years. Even the big suppliers of the last few years, India and China, are running short. The consequence of that shortage is disastrous. Without more trained workers, economic growth will decline throwing the world into prolonged stagflation.

The second part of the reality is that the number of jobs for untrained workers in dwindling rapidly. This is not caused by competition from Asia. The numbers of jobs for untrained workers are decreasing there as well. The primary cause is the inevitable march of technology. A graphic example occurred early in my country. Going into the 20th century 60% of the workers in the US were involved in Agriculture. Now the number is 1% and output has increased 2000%. Clearly the prospect of hoards of unemployed and unemployable people is a staggering social issue.

The answer to this disconnect is, of course, education. Professionals have struggled mightily with the formidable challenge facing them. I commend them. There task is very difficult. But there is more that can be done. Unfortunately, technology which has increased human productivity many fold in almost every field has barely touched professional education. There are many tools available which could leverage the current talent significantly. I urge professionals to use them.

We cannot expect professionals alone to cope with this crisis. In order to succeed, every citizen must be involved and engaged in a meaningful way. I had the opportunity to start seven schools for poor students in my hometown of Los Angeles. I was also active in agitating politicians and educators for better performance. It was tough but there have been a few results. There is something everyone can do whether it is mentoring some children, spending time helping out at a school, donating equipment, or getting involved in politics.

One vital ingredient that we can all provide is motivation. While the crisis I mentioned is real, the potential for this world is better than it has ever been. We have the prospect of being healthier, wiser, more peaceful, and more prosperous than we have ever been. The only real barrier is our own mind. In order to achieve the potential available, we must give youth confidence in themselves, vision and optimism about the future. Optimism is a magnum force, and the single most important ingredient of success in everything. Please give the gift of optimism to any youth you meet. Tell them that you know they can learn and succeed, that you will help them, and that you expect them to succeed. I’ve tried it thousands of times, and it is the closest thing to a miracle that I have experienced.

Let me talk for a minute about the retention part of human resources. Clearly any entity that is losing a fair percentage of its talent is in trouble. The good news is that is no longer necessary to move to get a good job. In this century workers create jobs as much as employers do. If a person has a skill and employers hear about it, they will come to her or him. There are hundreds of examples in Uruguay of professionals working for employers in other countries but still living in Uruguay. We need to spread that good word.

I feel blessed to be in this wonderful country with the kindest people in the world. I feel very confident that Uruguay will adapt to this quickly changing world. I hope that I get a chance to help. Many thanks

(end transcript)

Original remarks delivered in Spanish.

 
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