SINGAPORE – In remarks, full text below, President Obama on Sunday announced Hawaii will host the APEC meeting in 2011 and defended calling the U.S. a “Pacific nation.”
The president also said he will tackle mounting U.S. debt after the economy rebounds and preached the virtues of sustained economic growth at home and abroad. He sought to back up his description of America as a “Pacific nation” with references to geography, economic interaction and overseas scholarship.
Obama also indicated interest in securing a new agreement on global trade through the World Trade Organization’s so-called Doha-round. He also suggested finalizing the long-pending (since June 2007) U.S. free trade agreement with South Korea, the biggest trade deal since the North American Free Trade deal (NAFTA).
On these trade issues, though, Obama set no new goals or time-lines. He also offered no specifics on reducing U.S. debt.
Obama’s remarks, to the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, begin here. The remarks were not covered by TV cameras at the insistence of APEC organizers:
https://whitehouse.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/11/15/obama-announces-hawaii-to-host-apec-in-2011-defends-pacific-nation-declaration/