    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
    [October 30, 2007]
    [Pages 1394-1396]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With President Yoweri Kaguta
    Museveni of Uganda
    October 30, 2007

        President Bush. Mr. President, thank you for coming. Second time we
    have met here in the Oval Office, and I told the President that I
    remember distinctly his description of what life was like in Uganda,
    particularly when it comes to his raising cows; he's a cattleman, and it
    gave us something to talk about.
        But we talked about other issues as well. I am very proud that the
    United States taxpayer has supported this President in his efforts to
    deal with HIV/AIDS. And Uganda is the epitome of the--of how one can
    implement a comprehensive ABC strategy to achieve concrete and specific
    results for the sake of humanity. And so, Mr. President, I assure you
    we'll continue to support you on HIV/AIDS, and equally important, we'll
    support you on fighting malaria.
        President Museveni. Thank you.
        President Bush. And I thank you for your determined efforts.
        We also talked about the benefit of trade between the United States
    and the continent of Africa, and the President reminded me how important
    AGOA is to promote better lives in our respective countries. And so, Mr.
    President, thank you for that vision.
        We talked about a lot of other subjects. We talked about the
    security in the region. The President has got good advice, and he's got
    good judgment when it comes to issues like Somalia and the Sudan. I
    assured him that we're committed to peace and stability. A matter of
    fact, I informed the President today that I spoke to the Secretary-
    General of the United Nations about Sudan, how I
    think it is important to continue putting the pressure on respective
    parties to come up with an agreement that will help end the genocide,
    and that it's important for the United Nations to get moving those
    troops into this Darfur region as quickly as possible.
        And of course, we discussed about the peace between--the agreement
    between south and north of Sudan, and our desire

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    is to make sure we implement that agreement.
        And finally, we talked about eligibility for Millennium Challenge.
    And I told the President this is a very important program. I hope that
    Congress fully funds Millennium Challenge, and that we'll work with
    Uganda on their eligibility.
        And so, Mr. President, thanks for coming. It's really good to see
    you again.
        President Museveni. Thank you.
        President Bush. I appreciate you taking time to visit with me here
    in the Oval Office.
        President Museveni. I thank President Bush for welcoming me here. As
    he told you, we are most pleased with AGOA, African Growth and
    Opportunity Act. This is where the United States opens their market for
    African value-added products, or products of all other types, for 6,500
    products.
        Now, this is a very big opportunity. As you know, the United States
    market is a big market, $11 trillion market. The whole of the African
    market today is about half a trillion dollars, if it was integrated. Of
    course, it will grow, it will grow. As the purchasing power of Africa
    grows, our whole market will also grow.
        However, in the short run, exporting to the U.S. market is a very
    good stimulus for our economies to grow fast. So we are very, very
    pleased with President Bush for sustaining this AGOA arrangement, which
    has helped our economies. Uganda is already exporting processed fish
    from Lake Victoria to the U.S. This is good also for the American
    consumers because this fish is very good for health. There's very little
    pollution in our part of the world, so it's very good for the American
    people also. So I thanked him for that.
        I also thanked him for the Millennium Challenge Account. That money
    will now be used to develop infrastructure in the country of Uganda. So
    you have access to big markets in Africa, in the United States, in the
    European Union; even China has opened their market partially to us. They
    have offered us 440 products, tariff free, quota free. But you need a
    good infrastructure within a country like Uganda, as well as other
    African countries, so that you can produce goods at low cost. And
    because you have got low transport costs, you have got low energy costs;
    therefore, the cost of doing business are low, are reasonable.
    Therefore, you can be competitive in the expanded markets and also in
    the regional markets. So I thanked him again for that Millennium
    Challenge Account.
        I thank him for the malaria and HIV fund. That one is very, very
    useful. We are working to get rid of the mosquito in Uganda. We are
    doing research to get rid of the mosquito larvae. And again, we have
    worked with the Center for Disease Control in the United States, whom
    you sent to us. There's a hope that we can get rid of the mosquito at
    the larvae stage because we have got some larvicide, which can kill it.
        Of course, we also talked about security issues, but most important,
    AGOA, Millennium Challenge Account, malaria, and HIV. That's what we
    talked about mainly.
        President Bush. Sir, thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:37 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of
    the United Nations.

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