Bill Clinton: “I think he's right about that. One of the things that I pointed out in our morning meeting is that Central America, for…”

“I think he's right about that. One of the things that I pointed out in our morning meeting is that Central America, for all of its economic difficulties, basically is being well managed. And I believe that if there were a way for all these leaders together to demonstrate to the world that they are determined to avoid the kinds of financial problems and economic problems, for example, that have caused such trouble in Asia and, frankly, caused difficulties for all developing economies--caused the interest rates for funds even in Central America to go up--if there were a way for this region to say as a region, look, we know what caused those problems there; we're not going to do that here; this is a good place to invest--then I believe not just the United States but people in Europe, people in South America, people in Asia would be far more likely to invest here, to bring Central America not just into a better partnership with the United States but with all the world in a way that would lift the lives of people here. So I agree with President Arzu that there should be a global strategy. But I believe that because we're neighbors, for the foreseeable future, for the next 50 years, our major economic relationship should be one with another. And that imposes special responsibilities on the United States, but it also gives us a lot of opportunities. The President said to me, and I'd like to say to my fellow Americans not only here but those who might be listening to this press conference or who will hear the reports of it, that our trade with Central America far outstrips our trade with countries that are much, much larger than the combined population of Central America. And it has an enormous potential to benefit not just the people of this region but the people of the United States, as well. U.S. Congress and Kosovo/Apologies for Past Administrations”