Mrs Albright travel ...to Vietnam

[bich dao <daotb@yahoo.com>]

                                   U.S. Department of State
                                   Office of the Spokesman
                                   Press Statement




                    Press Statement by James P. Rubin, Spokesman
                    August 16, 1999 

                      Travel of Secretary of State Albright to the
Middle East and Asia

                    Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright will
travel to the Middle East and
                    Asia in September 1999. 

                    The Secretary will depart for the Middle East on
Wednesday, September 1.
                    While in the region, she will visit Morocco, Egypt,
Israel, the West Bank
                    and Gaza, Syria and Jordan. 

                    On September 1 Secretary Albright will meet with
King Mohammed of
                    Morocco and Prime Minister Yousouffi. From Morocco,
she will travel to
                    Egypt on September 2 to meet with President Mubarak
and Foreign Minister
                    Moussa. That evening she will travel to Israel to
meet with Prime Minister
                    Barak, and will remain overnight. On Friday,
September 3, Secretary
                    Albright will meet with Israeli officials,
including Prime Minister Barak,
                    President Weizmann, Foreign Minister Levy, and
Likud party leader Ariel
                    Sharon. The Secretary also will meet with PLO
Chairman Arafat on Friday
                    evening. On Saturday, September 4, the Secretary
will travel to Syria to
                    meet with President Assad. She will return to
Israel Saturday evening. On
                    Sunday, September 5, Secretary Albright will travel
to Jordan, where she
                    will meet with King Abdullah. 

                    The purpose of the Secretary's travel to the Middle
East will be to promote
                    progress on all tracks of the peace process and to
consult with leaders on
                    issues of bilateral concern. 

                    Following her visit to the Jordan, Secretary
Albright will travel to Vietnam
                    and New Zealand. 

                    Secretary Albright will arrive in Vietnam September
5, where she will
                    have discussions with senior Vietnamese leaders on
a broad range of
                    subjects. The U.S. and Vietnam have reached an
agreement in principle on
                    trade and investment that will permit improved
commercial relations. The
                    Secretary will emphasize the importance of further
economic reform, as
                    well as improvements in human rights and our close
cooperation on the
                    POW/MIA issue. In addition to her stop in Hanoi,
the Secretary will visit
                    Ho Chi Minh City on Monday, September 6, and will
dedicate our new
                    Consulate General on Tuesday, September 7. 

                    Secretary Albright will then travel to Auckland,
New Zealand, arriving
                    September 8, for the annual APEC (Asia Pacific
Economic Coooperation
                    Forum) ministerial meetings. The ministers will
meet September 9-10 to
                    discuss trade, financial, and other economic
issues, including APEC's role
                    in global trade liberalization in advance of the
November WTO ministerial
                    meeting in Seattle, opening markets, opportunities
for expanding business in
                    the region, and the after-effects of the regional
financial crisis. While in
                    Auckland, the Secretary will also have an
opportunity to hold bilateral
                    meetings with a number of key counterparts. 

                    The ministerial meetings will be followed by the
September 12-13 APEC
                    Leaders Meeting, which President Clinton will
attend. 


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