Clinton Addresses APEC Forum
By VOR
By Margarita Bogatova
The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the APEC forum after meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. She said that Washington spent too much on conflicts and it’s time for investments now. Hillary Clinton’s speech was one of today’s highlights and at the very beginning of her speech she touched upon Russia’s WTO membership.
“I want to congratulate Russia on joining the World Trade Organization. We believe this is good for Russia, it’s good for the United States, it’s good for the global economy. Three successive US Administrations worked steadily to advance Russia’s WTO aspirations. We strongly support the basic bargain at the heart of the WTO – nations that uphold internationally recognized norms not just on tariffs but also on subsidies, preferences, intellectual property rights and so on – these nations get to enjoy the benefits of open markets and free trade”.
Clinton emphasized the importance of free trade and open markets. She said that the US invests vast sums in Asia and Asia and the Pacific. She also highlighted the importance of Asia and the Pacific for the future of the global economy, the same idea, which was earlier voiced by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
Hillary Clinton also touched upon domestic challenges to the US, like reaching economic balance or counter-protectionism and counter-unemployment measures. President Putin in his speech spoke a lot about measures to resist protectionism. Protecting interests of specific companies alone might be helpful for the economy in a short-term prospect, Clinton said, but is harmful in a long-term prospect as this scares investors away and hampers business development in general.
Clinton also stated that the global community should make joint efforts to enhance the role of women in the economy as, according to her, the world is annually losing some 40 bln dollars due to unfulfilled potential of women who are blocked participation in economicprocesses. She spoke about the same things at the St.Pete’s Women and the Economy forum earlier this summer.
The US Secretary of State concluded her speech saying that the US is open for cooperation with the world countries and is ready to attract investments and invest itself.
