[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 12 (Monday, March 26, 2001)]
[Pages 463-464]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori of Japan 
and an Exchange With Reporters

March 19, 2001

    President Bush. It's my honor to welcome the Prime Minister of our 
close friend to the Oval Office. Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. This 
meeting is an important meeting because it gives us both a chance to 
confirm the importance of our relationship. We view Japan as a very 
strong friend and ally, and

[[Page 464]]

that's the way it's going to be during my administration.
    And we've got such a good friendship and such a strong alliance that 
we're able to overcome occasional problems that might arise. We can do 
so in the spirit of friendship. So I'm honored that the Prime Minister 
is here. We're going to have a--we'll discuss a lot of issues: we'll 
discuss our economies; we'll discuss trade; we'll discuss our alliance 
and how best to work together to keep the peace. I'm looking forward to 
a very fruitful and important discussion.
    Mr. Prime Minister.
    Prime Minister Mori. I have spoken to President Bush over the phone 
three times, but I am delighted today that I am able to have a face-to-
face meeting with the President. In today's meeting, as the President 
just said, I would like to reaffirm the strong alliance between Japan 
and the United States and would like to discuss a very--a broad range of 
issues, including various issues in international affairs, and would 
like to set out the fundamental direction in which the Japan-U.S. 
alliance should head in the 21st century.
    I would like to explain the various measures which our Government 
has taken so that the Japanese economy will have a fully sustainable 
economic growth. And I'd like to express my strong determination to 
pursue necessary policies for that. I'd also like to express to the 
President my hope that United States will take appropriate macroeconomic 
policies to deal with the U.S. economy that is slowing down.

Bank of Japan's Zero-Interest-Rate Policy

[At this point, a question was asked in Japanese, and no translation was 
provided.]

    Prime Minister Mori. I, of course, will be explaining to the 
President the decision made by the Bank of Japan yesterday, and I 
sincerely hope that it will have--and I am certain that it will have a 
positive effect on our economy.

National Economy

    Q. Mr. President, with both the Japanese and the American economies 
in such fragile states, could you explain how you see the 
interrelationship between the economies and what you'd like to see the 
Japanese Government do to address its problems and particularly in the 
financial sector?
    President Bush. First, we've got to get our own economy growing the 
way I know it can. That's why I'm advocating tax relief and free trade 
regulatory relief. And I look forward to explaining to the Prime 
Minister that we do have a plan to give our economy a second wind. I'm 
very confident about our economy. I know it can beat expectations. I 
will explain that to him, as clearly as I can, about when our policies 
are in place, how optimistic I am about economic growth.
    And secondly, I look forward to hearing Japan's view of reform, 
internal reform. I'm confident that's going to be a large part of our 
discussions today.
    The interrelationship between our two economies is important. When 
you combine our economies, we represent about 40 percent of the gross 
domestic products of all the nations added up. And that's a very 
important--and therefore, our economies are very important to the world. 
And the stronger we are, the more likely it is there will be prosperity 
in other parts of the world. And so this is going to be a very important 
part of our discussion.

Note: The President spoke at 10:55 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. Prime Minister Mori spoke in Japanese, and his remarks were 
translated by an interpreter. A tape was not available for verification 
of the content of these remarks.