For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 30, 2002

President to Travel to Mexico in March
Statement by the Press Secretary

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 UN conference demonstrates the U.S. commitment to work in partnership with developing countries.

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