*EPF204 06/26/01
Transcript: Bush Welcomes S. African President to White House
(Both leaders hold talks in Oval office) (1240)

President Bush June 26 welcomed South African President Thabo Mbeki to the White House with a commitment to work with the Mbeki and like-minded African leaders who provide "imaginative and real leadership," all across the continent.

Asked about the HIV/AIDS pandemic during a photo opportunity in the Oval Office, Bush told reporters the United States "is doing something about it" by providing more money than any nation in the world to fund a strategy to defeat the killer virus. That funding, Bush noted, includes a recent a $200 million contribution to the Global Health Trust Fund.

In his comments, President Mbeki told reporters that the HIV/AIDS virus, like other scourges afflicting Africa, must be dealt with in a comprehensive way.

"One of the matters we'll discuss with the President is this African recovery program that we're working on. And one of the major priority areas in that African recovery program is precisely this area," he added.

"The moment has come for us, as Africans," Mbeki noted, "really to turn the corner, to deal with all of these problems of violence and conflict and poverty, disease, and so on."

Following is a transcript of the Bush-Mbeki comments at the photo opportunity in the Oval Office:

(begin transcript)

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
June 26, 2001

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT BUSH AND PRESIDENT MBEKI OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

The Oval Office

11:27 A.M. EDT

PRESIDENT BUSH: It is my honor to welcome the President Mbeki to the
Oval Office. It's good to see you again, sir. The last time we visited
was in the Governor's Mansion in Texas. We had a great discussion about
our country's relations. I look forward to furthering that discussion.

We have a lot of interests that -- to discuss. We have the interest
of trade and prosperity. My administration has made a commitment to work
with leaders like President Mbeki on the continent of Africa to provide
hope for people. And we look forward to a great relationship with you,
sir. You've provided imaginative, real leadership that a lot of people in
this nation admire. And our relationship is only going to grow stronger as
a result of your visit here.

So we welcome you to the United States. We welcome the dialogue we'll
have here in the Oval Office, and then over lunch with the respective
delegations.

Mr. President.

PRESIDENT MBEKI: Thank you very much, Mr. President. Let me say
thank you very much, indeed, Mr. President, for giving us the opportunity
to see you. I've been looking forward to this, because for us, Mr.
President, our relations with the United States are very important.

You know the challenges we face in South Africa, Mr. President, and
the challenges we face on the African continent. And quite clearly, we
need your support and involvement in order to solve those problems.

I'm happy we are able to meet today so we can look, as you said, Mr.
President, at the matter of the bilateral relations, as well as what we
might do on the wider scale. And I think that, Mr. President, the moment
has come for us, as Africans, really to turn the corner, to deal with all
of these problems of violence and conflict and poverty, disease, and so on.

And I've been very, very pleased -- I must say this, Mr. President --
that what we discussed in Austin, Texas, about what might be done, that you
have kept to that particular route, those present agreements, with some
understandings, has been very inspiring to us. And I'm sure that this
visit will help us to get along, as we definitely need to.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you. I'm so glad you're here. Thanks.

Q. Mr. President, neither of you have mentioned the AIDS scourge
directly in your opening statements here. How high on the list of
priorities for discussing the scourge is this on your agenda?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, it's an incredibly important part of our
dialogue. The AIDS pandemic in Africa is terrible. And our nation intends
to do something about it. As a matter of fact, our nation is doing
something about it. We provide more money than any nation in the world to
fund a strategy to defeat AIDS. And we will continue to work with nations
that can afford to put money into the trust to do so.

I was so pleased to see not only to announce that our government put
money into an international trust, but the Gates Foundation, a private
foundation here in America, contributed $100 million. And yesterday, Tommy
Thompson and Colin Powell went to the U.N. to discuss this important issue.
And we will discuss it, and we'll discuss it in depth, just like we did in
Austin, Texas. The President is concerned, as am I.

I discussed it in Europe. I talked to the Europeans. I said, we've
made a down payment into the international trust to battle AIDS; they
should contribute, I said. And I hope they do. I hope the European Union
will follow suit. Part of our discussion that night in Sweden was the
United States taking the lead in the AIDS pandemic, not only in the
continent of Africa, but around the world. And this is a big issue, as far
as we're concerned. We've got to do something about it.

Mr. President.

PRESIDENT MBEKI: Yes, indeed. As the President says, we actually did
discuss this matter, even then, last year in May, when we met in Texas. It
clearly is an important matter. That's why I mentioned the matter of
diseases on the African continent. AIDS, indeed, is one of those.

We have to respond in a comprehensive way. One of the matters we'll
discuss with the President is this African recovery program that we're
working on. And one of the major priority areas in that African recovery
program is precisely this area.

So we certainly will discuss this. And we have to do something,
because in many instances, these are diseases which are not only caused by
poverty, some of them, but also cause poverty. So if you're talking about
an African recovery, you cannot but discuss AIDS, and really confront it.
Malaria, tuberculoses, all sorts of communicable diseases are a particular
matter of what has to happen -- we have to address them.

Q. Mr. President, President Mbeki, last week the New York Times
published an editorial accusing your government of, in its words, dooming
half a generation of young people to an early, protracted and expensive
death because of its failure to distribute anti-retrovirals. How do you
explain the amount of criticism that you're coming in for in the United
States for what is a perception that you're not doing enough on HIV?

PRESIDENT MBEKI: Well, I'll we've said -- all I would say to that,
really, is that people must look at what we're doing in South Africa -- not
their perception of what they think we're doing, but what we're doing
actually in the country. And I don't think on the basics of facts an
accusation like that can be sustained.

Q. Thank you.

(end transcript)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov/)
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