US President George W. Bush yesterday was to propose creating a US-Middle East free trade area within the next 10 years to promote democracy and stability, an administration official said.
Economic prosperity and secur-ity are essential to creating conditions for peace in the region after the war to end Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, the official told reporters in a preview of a speech Bush will give at the University of South Carolina's commencement.
"The Middle East has been a big loser in the last 20 years" as trade deals involving China, Africa and Southeast Asia mean those regions get more economic opportunity, said Edward Gresser, an analyst at the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington, a research organization for pro-trade Democrats.
The share of world exports from more than a dozen Muslim nations plunged to 3 percent in 2001 from 13.3 percent in 1980, said Gresser, a former US trade official. A free-trade accord would boost income and may help prospects for peace in the region, he said.
Lowering trade barriers and encouraging investment also is a way to mute anti-Americanism and discourage terrorism, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick told the Export-Import Bank's annual conference last month.
"We're looking at how we can follow up the military victory in the Gulf with trade and economic initiatives," Zoellick said.
He and Secretary of State Colin Powell will discuss political, social and economic improvements at a World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan next month, the Bush official said.
Powell leaves today to seek progress on a top priority for Muslims: a peace accord between Palestinians and Israelis. The US gave both sides a "road map" of steps toward creating a Palestinian state in three years.
Bush's free-trade proposal comes as the US also is asking the UN Security Council to immediately lift sanctions on Iraq and for the resumption of oil exports under UN and World Bank monitoring.
The US has been at odds with France and Russia, which opposed the Iraq war, over the UN's role in postwar Iraq. France and Russia have called for the UN to take a "central" role; the US supports advisory participation.
The US government-backed Ex-Im Bank is "interested" in supporting US exports to Iraq, the agency's president, Philip Merrill, said at last month's Ex-Im Bank conference.
The agency is exploring how it could create an oil trust fund in Iraq to guarantee any loans, as one way to assure repayment, Merrill said.
Bush will say in today's speech that while the Middle East has rich cultural traditions, it is missing out on economic growth that has blossomed in other parts of the world, the official said at the briefing.
The World Bank expects annual economic growth in the Middle East to average 1.3 percent per capita during the decade, the slowest rate of any region. Half the 300 million citizens are younger than 24. One person in five is unemployed and the work force is the fastest growing in the world.
Bush will outline benchmarks for nations that want to qualify for membership in any free-trading zone, including progress on providing access to capital for small- and medium-sized businesses, improving property rights, fighting terror and strengthening the rule of law, the official said.
Bush won't specify which nations may qualify to participate in any agreement, the aide said.
The Muslim world's share of global trade and investment has sunk to less than a quarter its level of two decades ago, as the nations kept some of the highest trade barriers in the world and failed to develop industries other than oil and gas, according to the World Bank.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from