Leaders hail intimate ties between Europe, Latin America

[Judi Lynn]

Leaders hail intimate ties between Europe, Latin America

www.chinaview.cn 2006-05-12 23:55:37

VIENNA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Austria's Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel, the U.N.'s Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Mexico's President Vicente Fox Quesada unanimously hailed the intimate relations between Europe and Latin America in a public statement on Friday.

"The economic data show how important the economic cooperation between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean has become," Schussel told a press conference after the first working session of the fourth EU-Latin America Summit.

According to Schussel, who hosted the summit as his country is holding the presidency of the European Union (EU), the bilateral trade volume currently stood at 110 billion euros (around 132 billion U.S. dollars), and the EU was the world's biggest providerof development assistance in Latin America.

"The focus is not exclusively on the economy at this conference. We must also listen to the practical concerns of ordinary people. We should therefore also tackle controversial issues. The more we listen to one another, the greater will be theunderstanding that develops between us and the fewer differences will have to be settled," the Chancellor added.
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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/12/content_4540245.htm

[VegasWolf]

1. The world is collectively leaving the Bush administration in the dust. nt

[sutz12]

3. And all of us with them.

But we'd rather be "Right" than popular, right? :sarcasm:

[Tempest]

2. Clearly a shot at Bush

And another indication of how the Euro is surpassing the dollar as the currency of choice.