30 January 2002

President Bush to Visit Mexico, Attend Conference on Development

President Bush will travel to Mexico to participate in the International Conference on Financing for Development, scheduled for March 22, and to meet with Mexican President Vicente Fox, the White House said in a press release issued January 30.

The meetings of the U.S. and Mexican presidents "will be an opportunity to address regional issues of interest to both countries and to review progress in key areas of the bilateral relationship," according to the White House.

Following is the text of the press release:

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary

January 30, 2002

Statement by the Press Secretary For Immediate Release

The President will travel to Monterrey, Mexico, to participate in the International Conference on Financing for Development on March 22 and to meet with President Fox.

The meetings with Mexico's President will be an opportunity to discuss regional issues of interest to both countries and to review progress in key areas of the bilateral relationship. These include our ongoing cooperation on border security, trade, economic development, and immigration. The President is particularly interested in exploring with President Fox concrete steps we can undertake together to ensure that our shared border serves our countries' human and economic interests, upholds our laws, and protects our two societies from threats to their well-being.

In a speech at the World Bank in July of last year, President Bush called for expanding the circle of development to include all of the world's poor. The Monterrey conference provides a forum for discussing steps to be taken to remove obstacles to economic growth and development. The President's participation in the U.N. conference demonstrates the U.S. commitment to work in partnership with developing countries.

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