The Zambian-American Chamber of Commerce has been launched.

Delivering her remarks at the launching ceremony held in the Zambian capital Lusaka, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said "the United States will do what we can to help American and Zambian companies do business together."

"We want to help work toward lowering trade barriers, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the countries trade at a lower level than any region in the world," she added.

Clinton said there were so many opportunities for growth within the region if countries lower trade barriers; invest in infrastructure, health, education, and cut down on corruption.

She said "by building our relationship, we want to establish a strong foundation to attract new investment, open new businesses, create more paychecks, and do so within the context of a positive ethic of corporate responsibility."

In a decade since the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was passed, American trade with Africa has quadrupled from $1 billion to $4 billion, and Clinton said America wanted to "quadruple it again and keep on going."

Earlier, in an interview With Radio QFM, Clinton said the Obama administration was committed to extending AGOA beyond 2012 and that it would be working with the Congress to get that done.

AGOA is an effort to increase economic opportunity within Africa through trade and investment.

United States Trade Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk, members of Zambia's Cabinet, and business leaders in Zambia also attended the launch of the new Chamber of Commerce.

Separately, Clinton announced an additional $15 million in PEPFAR funding to help Zambia eliminate mother-to-child transmission of AIDS.

Read a transcript of Hillary Clinton's remarks at the launch of the Zambia-US Chamber of Commerce at this link.

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