Unilever Chairman Niall FitzGerald addresses shareholders

In summary: 

International Trade

The events of the past six months have cast a long shadow over many of the institutions upon which economic growth and development has come to depend since the Second World War. International 

corporations such as Unilever have a part to play in helping to rebuild some of the bridges and to encourage an international approach to tackling the issues faced. 

By including those that are now excluded from economic activity, business can help improve the quality of life. But while business can contribute on its own, more fundamental action is required to improve the international institutions and frameworks, especially the promotion of trade. 

"Open trade spreads prosperity, extends opportunity and raises standards of living across the planet," said Mr FitzGerald. "It creates new markets for business. It creates new jobs. It encourages fair competition, improving the quality of products and services. It even supports democracy. It has, and must continue, to underpin prosperity and freedom for all our citizens." 

Acknowledging that there were legitimate concerns about spreading the benefits of increased trade more evenly and equitably, Mr FitzGerald warned: "It is doubtful that, without an increase in trade and international economic integration, many of our shared social and environmental objectives can be obtained." 

The 20-fold increase in world trade in the past 50 years has been the single most important factor in driving economic growth and increasing prosperity. Stimulating economic growth in developing countries is essential to enable sustained economic growth globally. It is in the mutual interest of developed and developing nations. It is also key to sharing the benefits of global prosperity more equitably. 

Four out of five of the world’s citizens live in the developing world. For the developed world to defend prosperity it must make a serious commitment to address poverty in the developing world, poverty of resource, hope and opportunity. Trade and trade supporting aid, are the most effective ways to attack poverty. 

He concluded: "This is why there is now an urgent need to move forward on trade, to agree the Doha Development Agenda, and to conclude the new trade round by 2005. And we [Unilever] will continue to press for progress in these areas as a matter of urgency." 

Corporate Governance

Unilever has a long history of commitment to the highest standards of corporate governance, said Mr FitzGerald, and its governance structures and practices are constantly considered. 

"Transparency and accountability lie at the heart of good corporate governance. Only if you have transparency can you engender trust — and it is trust, trust of the management, its policies, of the employees and what they do, that is the essential bedrock of economic success." 

Unilever is currently reviewing its governance structure in the light of developments not only in the UK but, critically, in the USA — where Unilever is also a listed company — and it is also following the progress of the Tabaksblat Committees deliberations in the Netherlands. 

"Depending on the progress of some of these initiatives we anticipate concluding our review at year end and if we determine change is in the shareholders interest and commands their support — then we will bring those changes forward," Mr FitzGerald said. 

Pensions

Mr FitzGerald re-affirmed Unilever’s commitment to continuing the "final salary" or "defined benefit" scheme currently in place in the UK. 

"This is our intention for the foreseeable future," he said. "To underpin this commitment, both company and employee contributions have been re-introduced this year. This has been welcomed as a realistic response to the pension challenge faced by all." 

-o0o- 

The full text of Niall FitzGerald’s speech to shareholders at QEII Conference Centre this morning (May 7) may be accessed on www.unilever.com