Text 1735, 602 rader
Skriven 2005-11-17 23:33:06 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0511175) for Thu, 2005 Nov 17
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Press Briefing with Faryar Shirzad, Deputy NSA for International Economic
Affairs, and Mike Green, Senior Director NSC for Asian Affairs, on the APEC
Leaders Meetings and the President's Bilateral Meetings
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 17, 2005

Press Briefing with Faryar Shirzad, Deputy NSA for International Economic
Affairs, and Mike Green, Senior Director NSC for Asian Affairs, on the APEC
Leaders Meetings and the President's Bilateral Meetings
Commodore Hotel
Busan, South Korea



7:15 P.M. (Local)

MR. GREEN: Let me tell you a little bit about what the President did today,
beginning with his phone call to President Musharraf at 6:00 p.m. this
evening, and then I'll talk a little bit about the bilateral meeting he had
with President Roh, and then the bilateral meeting he had with Prime
Minister Abdullah Badawi of Malaysia.

At 6:00 p.m. the President took a phone call from President Musharraf. As
you probably know, there is a donors conference on November 19th to help
raise international support for the reconstruction effort in Pakistan after
the earthquake that struck South Asia. President Musharraf gave a summary
of the situation and of the long-term reconstruction needs as he sees them,
asked for U.S. support -- asked for U.S. support in building international
momentum to help in the reconstruction effort, and the President promised
that he would look at ways to help -- government, private sector -- and
would instruct Secretary Rice and the State Department to work with their
counterparts in Pakistan to come up with detailed plans.

That was at 6:00 p.m. For most of the day the President was in the ancient
capital of Korea, Gyeongju. He held a bilateral meeting with President Roh
Moo-hyun, and then a social lunch. There was a press conference after the
bilateral meeting where the two Presidents outlined some of their
discussions. The social lunch was mostly a social lunch. It included the
First Lady and the First Lady of Korea. So I want to tell you a bit about
the agenda and the topics in their bilateral meeting, which took place
before the press conference and the lunch.

The two Presidents first reviewed briefly the accomplishments of the
alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea over the past
few years. And as President Roh said at his press conference, it's an
impressive list of things, beginning here on the peninsula, where we have
agreed with the Republic of Korea and have begun the process of realigning
our forces, moving out of the Yungsan Garrison in Seoul, creating a U.S.
presence here that is less of a burden to the people of the Republic of
Korea, and also far more effective and efficient as a force.

In addition, they talked about some of the accomplishments of the U.S.-ROK
alliance and the important role that the Republic of Korea is playing in
bringing democracy, freedom, reconstruction, stability to other parts of
the world, most significantly Iraq, where the Republic of Korea is the
third largest contingent after the United States and the U.K., with well
over 3,000 troops near Irbil, but also in Afghanistan and in other areas
where Korean forces are involved as peacekeepers.

The two leaders agreed that this is an alliance that's built not just on
the interests and the immediacy of security challenges in this region, but
also built on common values. President Roh went on to emphasize this point,
that as a democracy that's been successful in large part because of the
strength of the U.S.-ROK alliance, the Republic of Korea is ready to play a
role helping in places like Iraq to bring democracy to other states.

In order to look in detail at how the U.S.-ROK alliance will continue to
play this kind of role not only on the peninsula and in Asia, but also
globally, the two leaders agreed to set up a mechanism between the State
Department and the Foreign Ministry here, called the SCAP is the acronym,
which basically stands for Strategic Cooperation for Alliance Partnership.
It's going to be a comprehensive look at foreign policy and security
policy, and how to enhance the role that the ROK-U.S. alliance plays. They
talked about North Korea, of course, and agreed that the September
statement of principles in the Beijing six-party talks has to be fully
implemented, and that its core is the complete elimination of North Korea's
nuclear weapons and nuclear programs. But they also talked about other
aspects of that agreement. One of them is the discussion about a peace
mechanism to replace the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War,
and also about creation of mechanisms for regional cooperation, building on
the model of the six-party talks, to address security issues into the
future.

They compared notes about the situation in North Korea, and about the
condition of the North Korea people, and agreed that they would seek ways
to improve the condition for the people of the North. President Roh gave a
readout about his strategy for North-South reconciliation, the peace and
development strategy, and the President -- President Bush expressed his
support. They agreed that they'd have close cooperation and coordination,
and that this North-South process, and that the six-party talks and the
nuclear diplomacy and the other issues that were framed up in the September
agreement should all be closely coordinated and make sure we're going for
the same result, which is a lasting peace in the peninsula and complete end
to North Korea's nuclear programs and an improvement in the situation for
the people of the North.

Beyond that, they had a very far-ranging discussion about trends in the
region and on the peninsula, and about APEC, where the President is looking
forward to building on the good work that the Republic of Korea has done as
host to enhance trade liberalization bilaterally in the region and globally
with the Doha Round.

In the afternoon, the President met with Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi of
Malaysia. He talked with Prime Minister Abdullah about counterterrorism,
where Malaysia has been a stalwart ally. He asked Secretary Rice to brief
Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi about her trip to the Middle East and the
progress that was made on her trip. This is something that's important to
Malaysia, and Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi explained that in his role as
chair of the Organization of Islamic Conferences, as someone who is trying
to seek an articulation of Islam with development and economic growth, that
it would be helpful for him, because he could now explain to his colleagues
in the OIC and elsewhere the progress that's being made in the Middle East,
and the dedication that the President has to making progress.

They talked about avian influenza. This has been a theme in a lot of the
President's discussions. It's a main theme for APEC. And they talked about
the meeting that they're going to have tomorrow, when the President will
visit with the seven leaders of the Southeast Asian nations who are in
APEC, the Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, where they'll address a lot of these same issues. And that's
tomorrow morning.

Let me let Faryar give you a bit more on the APEC agenda for tomorrow.

MR. SHIRZAD: Thanks, Mike. As you all know, the President is here also to
participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. This will be
the 13th leaders meeting under APEC. The organization started in 1989, and
the leaders have been meeting since 1993.

The APEC event includes leaders of the 21 economies of the Asia-Pacific
region. This is East Asia and the Western Hemisphere. Obviously, the
Koreans are hosting this year, and thus far have done an excellent job. And
we're thankful for their hospitality.

The President will participate in two days of activities under the auspices
of the APEC meeting. The sessions start formally tomorrow among the
leaders, where in the afternoon they'll participate in, first, what they
call a retreat, which will focus on the issues of trade and economic
integration in the region.

We expect the leaders will focus on what are known under APEC as the Bogor
goals, which are the broader goals that the APEC leaders established back
in the '90s to promote free trade among developed nations in the APEC --
among the APEC economies by 2010, and free trade among the developing
economies by 2020. And under that broader auspices, the APEC leaders will
talk, I expect, primarily about the Doha negotiations under the WTO and
what the APEC leaders can do to advance those important negotiations.
They'll talk about trends in the region, on free trade agreements, and
they'll also talk about the mid-term, what they call the mid-term stock
take of the Bogor goals, essentially tracking the progress that's been
made, but then more importantly what can be done further to advance the
objectives of free trade in the region by 2010 and by mid-2020.

That session tomorrow will be followed by a meeting of the leaders with
representatives of the ABAC. This is the APEC Business Advisory Council.
The ABAC is a formal advisory body that gives advice and makes
recommendations to the APEC leaders at these summits. Each country appoints
three -- up to three business leaders who meet regularly over the course of
the year, and then at the leaders meetings come forward with a set of
recommendations for the leaders on a number of issues, primarily related to
how to advance the goals of increased trade, making the APEC region more
business friendly, and then I think this year we expect the ABAC to make a
number of recommendations and comments regarding disaster preparations,
including with regard to avian -- the threat of avian influenza.

Friday's events will be capped off by a cultural dinner. This will be a
non-working session. It's a large dinner that the Koreans will host.

And then on Saturday, the leaders will start in the morning with a second
retreat, which will focus on the issues of security. Over the last several
years APEC has added very much to the economic focus that it has had from
the beginning to tackle issues of security, and that work continues at this
session, at this meeting, and the second retreat of the two that the
leaders will have will focus on the security agenda. What we expect at that
session is for the leaders to talk about what the APEC leaders can do, and
what the APEC economies can do to deal with preventing, preparing for, and
ultimately responding to disasters, including, in particular, this year,
avian influenza. We expect the leaders to talk about issues relating to
energy security, counterterrorism, nonproliferation, and also how to deal
with the challenge of corruption.

The second retreat on Saturday will then be focused by -- will be followed
by a lunch. This will be a working lunch. There's no topic that is
currently set, but the leaders will typically take the items, whatever
items of unfinished business that remain from the first two retreats and
continue their discussions over lunch. Then they'll have a photo of the
leaders, and then a presentation of the statement that will be made in an
event in which all 21 leaders will participate, and the Korean leader, as
host, will convene.

We are looking forward to the APEC session -- the President is looking
forward to the APEC meeting for a number of reasons: One, it's a good
opportunity for him to meet with counterparts in an important region of the
world; second, it's an opportunity for the President to -- and this
government to reaffirm our commitment to APEC as an institution. APEC is a
core institution in the region, does very strong work on a number of agenda
items, and this meeting is an opportunity to reaffirm our interest in and
our support for that organization.

And finally, the leaders meeting gives a good opportunity to continue the
ongoing good work that APEC has done on a number of items, in both the
security and the economic realm. As you all may already know, APEC consists
of more than just the leaders meeting that occurs once a year. There's a
series of ministerial and sub-ministerial meetings and working groups that
occur over the course of the year, and we're looking forward to the work
that comes both out of this session, and also to the work that will
continue to come out of APEC over the course of the year through the
various mechanisms that exist under that body.

The President will also do two bilaterals tomorrow, the details of which
and the substance of which we'll have to give you a readout on tomorrow --
I mean, on Friday after they occur. He'll be seeing the President of Russia
tomorrow morning, and he'll be meeting with a number of Western Hemisphere
leaders tomorrow, as well. In terms of specifics of what they intend to
talk about or any readout, we'll have to give you afterwards.

Thank you.

Q Mike, on the Abdullah meeting, did they talk about Burma at all? And did
they talk about U.S. participation in air patrols to fight piracy off
Malaysia's shores?

MR. GREEN: They didn't really talk about pirates, although that is an
important issue in the region and one where, within ASEAN and also the U.S.
and other partners there has been increased cooperation and surveillance.

Yes, the President did raise Burma and will do so again tomorrow when he
meets with the ASEAN leaders. It's a very important issue for him. When he
was in Washington before leaving, he met with Charm Tong, who is a young
activist for the Shan people, and heard her personal story about some of
the deprivations caused by the regime, not only on minority ethnic groups
like the Shan, but on all people in Burma. It's a high priority for him and
one of the topics he will address with leaders from Southeast Asia and from
Northeast Asia. It is -- Burma is not an agenda item on APEC for the
leaders meeting, but it is an important issue for him that he'll raise with
the leaders.

Q When you say you brought it up -- when you say that he raised it, was it
the same thing that Dr. Rice did, scolding ASEAN for not doing enough on
Burma? What was the substance of that?

MR. GREEN: No, he didn't scold. He didn't scold. The direction that the
regime in Rangoon -- I suppose I can't say Rangoon anymore because they
moved their capital. The direction they're going not only geographically,
but in terms of treatment of their people, is not positive. I think that's
something that's recognized throughout this region. And the President is
interested in having a frank discussion with leaders who have influence on
that regime, on how we can collectively try to improve the situation for
the people there.

Q Could you tell us -- two leaders conversation about Japan at lunch,
between President and Korean Roh Moo-hyun?

MR. GREEN: The lunch was a social lunch, and I'm afraid I wasn't there; we
don't have a readout. But it was, I am told by the few participants who
were there, primarily social and talking about, for example, Gyeongju and
things like that.

Q What, specifically, do you expect or want to come out of the APEC
meetings on avian flu?

MR. SHIRZAD: Well, what specifically will come out on avian flu we'll have
to see, depending on how the leader meetings go. But there's an ongoing
agenda that we have that was launched essentially by what the President did
at the U.N. in September in terms of getting countries around the world,
and I think the Asia Pacific region, in particular, focused on doing things
to be prepared for and prevent an avian flu outbreak, and if one does
occur, being prepared to respond to it. And so there's an ongoing work plan
that we have coming out of the U.N. meeting, and then both in terms of our
bilateral contacts -- and APEC is a good forum in which the region, in
general, could come together and work on avian flu. But the specifics of
this we'll have to see after the leaders meeting.

Q Do you envision like a dollar amount, timetable for goals -- are we
talking that level of specifics, or more general sense we need to work
together on this?

MR. SHIRZAD: I would not expect anything in terms of dollar amounts, but
we'll see. In terms of anything beyond that, we'll have to see.

Q Are you expecting, or how important it is to get a strong statement out
of the APEC meetings regarding agricultural subsidies, abandoning
agricultural subsidies, in the direction towards Europe and in preparation
to the next Hong Kong negotiation round?

MR. SHIRZAD: Well, trade is going to be a focus of the APEC meeting. APEC
has, because of the nature of the economies that participate in the APEC
process, has always been as an institution a powerful voice in the WTO
process. The APEC economies played an important role throughout the launch
of the Doha development agenda, had an important role in helping revitalize
the Doha negotiations after the failed Cancun ministerial. And we expect
the leaders to focus on what they can do to make sure the Doha negotiations
go to a successful outcome by the time the deadline approaches at the end
of 2006.

In terms of anything particular they do at this meeting, we'll have to see
what actually comes out of the meeting. I think we're much more -- very
much focused on results in the negotiating process at the WTO, itself. If
something comes out of the APEC meeting that's specific on advancing the
negotiations, that will be constructive, but our primary focus is on making
sure the negotiations, themselves, in Geneva, and more broadly, go at as
quick a pace as possible.

Q So there was no comment or trial by the President to set aside the past
for the more friendly Japan-South Korea relations?

MR. GREEN: The interesting thing about this discussion between the two
Presidents was how much it was oriented toward the future. They talked
about all the things I mentioned earlier in my briefing: reviewing the
accomplishments that we've made in strengthening the alliance; looking at
how to ensure full implementation of the September agreement of the
six-party talks and all the things that flow from that. But much of their
discussion was very much a future-oriented discussion about where the two
leaders thought this region was headed, not only on the Korean Peninsula,
but more broadly. And one of the things that they agreed on was an
important underpinning would be a strong U.S.-ROK alliance, and also that
that alliance would be based on both countries' interests in a time of
rapid development in Asia, but also on common values. And in particular,
the President -- President Roh took note of the President's -- President
Bush's speech in Kyoto and agreed with much of the thrust.

Q Following the question on the agricultural subsidies. Do you expect or do
you ask for a call to the EU from the --

MR. SHIRZAD: As you know, the negotiations on the WTO front are at a
crucial time. We're just a little -- a few weeks away from the Doha
ministerial meeting, and then about 14 months away, or less, from what
should be the conclusion of the negotiations in 2006. The President, first
in September, and then followed up by his Trade Representative, have laid
out a very ambitious, very bold proposal on agriculture that complements
similarly ambitious proposals that the United States has put forward on
services and manufactured goods. And we are very much of the view that the
rest of the world, the European Union included, has to step forward and
respond with the same level of ambition that we've laid out so that the
full potential of the Doha negotiations, including the development
potential of the negotiations, can be achieved.

So that's an ongoing, I think, dynamic that exists right now in the
negotiations. And I think we have, because of the President's leadership
and boldness, essentially put the rest of the world in a position where I
think they understand that we need to all step up now to produce real
results, and that includes the European Union, as well as others. So
there's no particular focus, just on the Europeans. I think the focus is
much more broad than that.

Q Yes, two questions for Mike. When you talked about the future this
morning in the bilateral, how far did -- how did South Korea see the rise
of China in that discussion? And secondly, when you're discussing tactics
about how to resolve the six-party talks, how did you discuss what you want
China to be doing and whether they're doing enough to use their leverage?

MR. GREEN: On the first question, I think in Kyoto with Prime Minister
Koizumi, in Gyeongju with President Roh, the President has had very
interesting strategic discussions about where the region is going. And I
think in both those discussions, it would be fair to characterize the view
that emerged of China's future as one of optimism.

President Roh, though, made it very clear that because so much about the
future of Asia is still to be written, it was critically important for the
Republic of Korea to have a strong alliance with the United States. And
this was, of course, the sentiment that President Bush agreed with; it's
one of the reasons why the two leaders asked the Secretary of State and the
Foreign Minister to set up this new mechanism to start thinking through how
our alliance would play a role into the future in this region and globally.

And on the six-party talks, it's been a long day. You're going to have to
help me.

Q Whether you discussed the role of China and the tactics.

MR. GREEN: Not in a specific way. The two leaders talked about the dynamics
in the talks and agreed that the multilateral process represented by the
six-party talks was the best way to try to get a lasting agreement to end
North Korea's nuclear weapons and nuclear programs and lay the foundation
for a lasting peace on the peninsula.

And this, of course, is -- this is because all of the neighbors, all of
those who have equities and also leverage on the Korean Peninsula, are
involved. When we get an agreement, it's an agreement that all will have a
stake in seeing fully implemented. And I think for the Republic of Korea,
it's a process -- the six-party talks diplomacy -- that has great advantage
because they're at the table helping to shape the result. It's one of the
reasons why President Bush and President Roh think this is a good approach.
In the past, much of the diplomacy to try to end the North Korean nuclear
program has been truly bilateral. Well, this is a good process for Korea,
because the Republic of Korea is at the table, shaping the result, working
the issues, coming up with its own initiatives. It's a good process for the
Republic of Korea, and it's a good way to get a result and a conclusion
that will stick because all the players who have a stake and who have
influence will be involved. And they talked about it in those terms.

Q What is the agenda tomorrow for the President's meeting with President
Putin of Russia?

MR. SHIRZAD: As I said, unfortunately, we'll have to give you more details
on the specifics tomorrow. We just don't have that right now for you.

Q Mike, President Hu said today -- told the APEC delegates today that
China's trade surplus is due to global demand and less due to things like
its currency. I wonder how convinced the President is that China is moving
at an appropriate pace toward full currency flexibility? Can you give us
some sense of what the President is likely to say to his Chinese
counterpart for the next few days?

MR. SHIRZAD: I think the answer to that is basically what the President
said in the Kyoto speech. I think he addressed that head-on, where he said
that he welcomed the commitment that President Hu had made in New York when
they had met in September to bring more balance in the trade relationship,
and also to deal with the problems of intellectual property, just as he had
welcomed the announcement and the commitment the Chinese made in July to
move to a market-based, flexible exchange rate mechanism. But the key is to
see those commitments implemented.

Q Mike, President Roh said that we are scoring more ways we can resolve
this issue, with regard to the six-party talks, with regard to North Korea
and its nuclear program. Can you talk more about what those ways -- those
new ways might be within the framework, I guess, of the six-party talks?
And did President Roh, at any point, suggest to President Bush that the
U.S. position should be more flexible than it is?

MR. GREEN: No, he didn't ask for a more flexible position, I think because
the agreement on the statement of principles in September was pretty clear.
It, for the first time, has all six powers, including North Korea, saying
that the elimination of their nuclear weapons and their nuclear programs is
at the core of this process, and that that has to happen. And the two
leaders agreed that it has to happen, and that the North Koreans have to
implement it.

But the agreement in September also addresses a lot of the issues we've
been talking about for a long time: the conventional threat; the treatment
of the North Korean people; trying to find a lasting mechanism for peace in
the region. And it lays out, in a way that all six parties agree to, an
agenda for implementing all of those things.

So we had a session of the six-party talks -- I guess about a week ago now.
That was to build momentum, to take stock and get ready for a session which
we expect in the next month or so, at which the parties will start putting
down some concrete ideas about how to begin implementing the commitments
that were represented in the September agreement.

So when President Roh talks about coming up with some more ideas, I think
what he means is that he and the President reaffirmed the broad strategic
direction, reaffirmed that that September agreement has to be fully
implemented, that it's core is the elimination of North Korea's nuclear
weapons and nuclear programs. And based on that broad strategic direction,
now the two governments, but also in consultation with Japan, with China
and Russia, will start trying to put together a implementation plan to
begin doing that and get us further along.

Q Did they talk about any specifics in terms of that implementation plan?

MR. GREEN: No, they talked about -- they reaffirmed the need to implement
the September agreement, they talked about the dynamics and -- you know, of
North Korea in this region, how to put in place plans and policies among
all of the parties that will get us to the objectives that are stated in
that September agreement fastest.

It was a strategic discussion, and it provided good guidance for the
Secretary of State, for our Assistant Secretary for Asia Pacific Affairs
who takes the lead on the talks, and their counterparts in Korea, to start
working out the details, and also, of course, in consultation with Japan
and the other parties in the talks. But they didn't get into the specific
tactics. They set the broad course.

Q In the meeting with the Prime Minister Badawi of Malaysia, did the
President ask for any specific help from the Organization of Islamic
Conference to stabilize the situation in Iraq?

MR. GREEN: No, the President didn't have any asks, as it were, but the
Prime Minister explained how he saw the role of the OIC in helping all
Islamic nations succeed, including Iraq, and he described some of the
things that Malaysia has been able to do in the past in other areas and
what kind of thing Malaysia could do, for example, to help with capacity
building in the Middle East, and so forth. So it was that kind of
discussion where the Prime Minister was giving his philosophy of what the
OIC could do to help in broad terms, what kind of capacity building
Malaysia had, without specific reference to specific missions or roles in
Iraq, or anywhere else, but what kind of thing the OIC has done, what kind
of thing Malaysia has been able to do in terms of capacity building.

And the President gave -- or asked Secretary Rice to give a detailed
briefing on her trip so that the Prime Minister could understand how we're
trying to make progress and how, indeed, we have made some important steps
forward in recent days in the Middle East.

Q Mike, South Korean government had requested to discuss the transfer of
wartime commandant -- with South Korean army. Did President Bush any --

MR. GREEN: That didn't come up.

Q According to Kyoto news, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon told
reporters that President Roh Moo-hyun explained his perception about the
history of Japanese invasion to Korean Peninsula. So would you tell us more
detail, President Roh Moo-hyun explained to President Bush about his
perception of history.

MR. GREEN: You know, it's possible some of this happened in the social
lunch -- possible -- that was just, you know, the leaders and the foreign
ministers and national security advisors. But most of the discussion in the
bilateral meeting, while touching on some of the history of competition in
Northeast Asia, most of it was focused on the future and where the trends
are likely to go and what role the U.S.-ROK alliance should play.

Q Can you tell us what the U.S. assessment is of APEC progress toward the
Bogor goals?

MR. SHIRZAD: I think there's a formal report that's going to be issued at
this, the formal stock that is the product of a working group that we
participated in. So the formal issuance of the report I think will reflect
many of our goals. Our focus, however, is very much on the future in terms
of what we do to achieve those objectives. And I think front and center of
the paths that take us to achievement of the Bogor goals is the successful
conclusion of the Doha negotiations. And so as we look forward, Doha is
front and center of our agenda of how to achieve those objectives.

We are, at the same time, however, as we have since the beginning of this
administration, been pursuing free trade and -- free and fair trade, and
trade liberalization through bilateral, regional, and multilateral
mechanisms. And so we have ongoing negotiations, for example, with the
Thais on a free trade agreement, as we do with the Peruvians, who are also
APEC members. So the objective is being pursued through a number of
channels and our perspective on it is very much forward-looking.

Q Was there any talk about -- either at the U.S. level or expected in these
meetings, about the proliferation of so many bilateral trade agreements,
and some corporate executives expressed concern about confusion with so
many individual deals?

MR. SHIRZAD: I think a lot of that concern you heard about the
proliferation of bilateral and regional agreements occurred in part in an
environment where people were not expecting significant progress of the
multilateral negotiations. And I think because of the President's
leadership and because of what he's done, particularly since his U.N.
speech, I think there's a greater sense all around among all participants
and stakeholders that the Doha negotiations are moving forward and that
they are moving with an honest level of ambition that can help become sort
of the defining platform for trade in the region, and then through that,
deal with the problems of the proliferation of potentially inconsistent
rules.

I think the broader goal that we all have is to achieve trade
liberalization and free and fair trade, and that can happen as we have
pursued our -- in terms of the U.S. agenda, bilaterally, regionally, and
multilaterally. There's nothing inconsistent with pursuing free trade
through different mechanisms with a broader goal of increasing prosperity
and economic activity and trade. And part of what we've tried to do through
APEC is to pursue an agenda of getting the APEC economies to adopt the
highest level of standards in the free trade agreements that they do
negotiate with on a bilateral basis. So what you'll see on the ongoing APEC
agenda is work, for example, to help the APEC economies understand better
how to do a better chapter on this element of what would typically be in a
free trade agreement, or that element of a free trade agreement.

Q You know, you give us the impression that with the APEC summit there will
be a strong endorsement of the Doha objectives. We know that Brazil, within
the G20, has exercised strong influence, especially after the Brasilia
meeting. So how can you say that Europe is not isolated within this
context? After all, these two groups represent the vast majority of world
trade, and Europe, you know, seems to be out of it.

MR. SHIRZAD: In terms of what the APEC leaders produce in terms of a strong
statement or any other statement on Doha, we'll have to see on Saturday
when they finally conclude with their meetings, conclude with their
deliberations, and reach a final decision on what they intend to issue on
their own behalf. So I think it's premature to say what statement, if any,
the APEC leaders will produce, although I'm confident they'll discuss the
issue of Doha.

On the issue of whether Europe is isolated, clearly, it's obvious there's a
tremendous amount of focus right now on Europe because of the degree to
which agriculture is the focus of world attention, and for a lot of
reasons, is the focus of the WTO negotiations right now. And people
understand that to answer the puzzle of how you solve agriculture in the
WTO context, the United States has to be a big part of that, but Europe
also has to be a big part of it, as do other economies, such as the
Japanese.

But I think the reality is, as we grapple with the issue of agriculture,
there are other agenda items that countries have to understand have to be
dealt with with an equal level of ambition, and services and manufactured
goods are very much on that list. And that means that all economies, all
countries -- the United States, Europe, others -- have to show a great deal
of ambition on agriculture, but they have to show a great deal of ambition
in the other sectors, and they have to do it, regardless of whether they're
developed economies or emerging markets. I think the burden is
comprehensive on all WTO participants, but it's also -- covers both the
developed, as well as the emerging economies.

Thank you.

END 7:54 P.M. (Local)

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