Innovation key to jobs: Obama

Updated on: Monday, January 31, 2011

Barack Obama wants business innovation to be the bedrock of the revival of the American economy and the US President says his country should use its advantage in innovation to create more jobs.

By promoting business innovation and spurring new products and technologies, America will unleash the talent and ingenuity of American workers and businesses that will lead to new jobs, Obama said in his weekly radio address today.
He said America will win the future by out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building its competitors.

"We'll win the future by being the best place on Earth to do business. That is what we are called to do at this moment. And in my state of the union, I talked about how we get there," he said.

"It starts by making sure that every single child can get a good education and every American can afford college or career training. Because that's what will help light the spark in the minds of innovators â€“ and ensure that our people have
the skills to work for innovative companies," he said.

He said the the administration has to make sure that America can move goods and information as fast as any of its competitors, whether on the road or online and added that it is good infrastructure that helps businesses sell their products and services faster and cheaper.

"We have to reform our government and cut wasteful spending, so that we eliminate what we don't need to pay for the investments we need to grow, like education and medical research," he said.

Obama said areas like clean energy are going to be the key to growing US economy and helping businesses create jobs and pledged to set in motion the target of making clean energy comprise 80 per cent of the country's electricity needs by 2035.

"That's why I've proposed a bigger tax credit for the research that companies do. And to give these companies the certainty of knowing there will be a market for what they sell, I've set this goal for America: by 2035, 80 per cent of electricity should come from clean energy," he said.

"This is going to help spark innovation at businesses across America. This is going to spur new products and technologies. This is going to lead to good, new jobs. And that's how we win the future â€“ by unleashing the talent and ingenuity of American businesses and American workers in every corner of this country," Obama said.

"So to those who say that America's best days are behind us, let them come here, to Manitowoc. Let them come to this once-shuttered factory that is now bustling with workers building new technologies for the world. Let them come here to see the incredible promise of our country," Obama said.

Innovation key to jobs: Obama

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