SECRETARY JOHANNS: "Good afternoon everyone and thank you very much for being here today. We thought this should be a great opportunity to share some observations and some thoughts with you at the close of the second day of the fourth AGOA Forum. I will make some brief remarks and then I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

"I want to begin by again saying thank you to Senegal, the warm hospitality and the excellent meeting arrangements. It's been a great conference. And I want to thank all the delegates for their active participation and their contributions.

"We have seen some outstanding presentations in the several workshops today, and the discussion has been spirited. I am also very pleased to see the intense participation by the private sector. It's growing every year and it's the largest ever here in Senegal. The very active role of the Africa Business Roundtable is to be applauded. We're seeing an increased emphasis on business activity, an expanded commercial trade and investment and this clearly reflects the growing realization that sustained growth and development can only occur in open economies with an active private sector.

"In addition to the formal sessions, I have had several bilateral sessions with African colleagues and I have been most impressed with what I have heard and what I have learned. I sense the development of strong currents for economic and political reform that are quickly building all across sub-Saharan Africa, and that is very welcome.

"We're hearing of increased attention to good governance, accountability and transparency, a renewed attention to spurring agricultural productivity and improving diets, and a growing interest in agricultural trade reform.

"One message that I have been hearing loud and clear is African countries want real market access. One minister told me very forcefully: 'I'm not here to ask for your aid, I'm here to ask for tangible access to your markets for my country's products.' And I'm hearing that Africa strongly supports the reduction and elimination of agricultural subsidies in all their forms.

"Hearing those messages leads me to offer the following observations: First, I am struck by how much the United States and the African countries have in common. We have far more in common than we disagree about. I see numerous new opportunities for us to work more closely together to achieve those goals. For example on the WTO negotiations, we both want expanded market access. We should be joining forces more closely to say to the Europeans and to others that now is the time to begin opening your markets to our products.

"We both share a goal of eliminating trade-distorting subsidies and supports. President Bush very courageously issued a challenge to the world to do just that. The US and African countries should be cooperatively pursuing this objective in the Doha negotiations. I also think that it is becoming more apparent that the WTO works for everyone. The notion that the WTO is a rich nations' club is quickly giving way to the realization that the WTO can serve the interest of developing and developed countries alike. We certainly hoped to contribute to that reality when we announced that we would fully comply with the WTO decision in the cotton case. We wanted to send a strong message that as members we intended to fully obey the rules and that we would expect others to do the same.

"The United States is strongly urging all African countries to become more active participants in the WTO in the Doha negotiations and we welcome their greater collaboration with us in achieving these goals that we have in common. We've also been emphasizing to all, as I stated in the press briefing yesterday, that there is a real state of urgency now attached to the Doha negotiations.

"There's much to be done before the Hong Kong ministerial in December and precious little time to do it. The moment for agricultural trade reform is now. If we let this opportunity pass by, such a moment may not reappear for a long time to come. So it is time to break the deadlock now is the time to show resolve and I have been urging all of my African colleagues to join with the United States in conveying that message in Geneva.

"As you know the next AGOA forum will be in the United States. We hope to be able to devote that Forum to a display of solid results of tangible achievements. I'm also pleased to announce today, that I am inviting US agribusiness firms to participate in a trade and investment mission to the southern Africa region Oct 31 through November 4th of 2005. The goal will be to promote US-Africa agribusiness investment, especially in the dry goods: food processing, seafood, livestock, genetics, and product inputs and equipment sectors. Mission participants will stay in Pretoria, South Africa, where they will have an opportunity to form partnerships with African entrepreneurs from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa. In agriculture we want to be able to point to expanded and strengthened private-public cooperation, to build trade flow to larger investments, and to a rising standard of living across all of Africa. I believe that we have substantially advanced these objectives this week. I'd be happy to take any questions that you have."

QUESTION: Good evening. The mission, for South Africa, can you be expect that sub-Saharan Africa will get more? Can you give more detail at the choice of countries? Why this part of Africa? Its agribusiness I suppose, it has to do with development level of different [Inaudible] and things like this.

JOHANNS: "Yeah. Go ahead and repeat the question. It's an excellent question. I would point out that this will be an ongoing program. And, for us this is the starting point, but we hope to have a program that moves across all of Africa."

REPORTER: You said that the US was ready to eliminate all subsidies in the agriculture sector, provided the Europeans also do the same. But, on the other side, they seem to speak the same way in the European Union, where the EU Trade Commissioner says that they are to eliminate all subsidies provided the US accepts to do the same. So I'd like to know who would be taking the first step, or is there a real will to do something?

JOHANNS: "Well the question was along the lines of: the Europeans say they're willing to reduce the subsidies, you're willing to reduce the subsidies--who's going to take the first step? And the answer to that question is we have already. In the President's budget proposals, he asks for a reduction of subsidies. In the WTO cotton case, we put in legislation in July, right before we left that said we will fully comply, we will eliminate the Step Two Cotton Program.

"The President has sent a very, very strong message at the G8 meeting, and now it is time for them to respond. In reality, if they are as committed to this as they say, than we are very optimistic about a successful WTO round where the developed countries, not just the European Union and the United States, agree to lower subsidies through the WTO process and eliminate them. And in return, we get market access. So African nations, the United States, the Europeans, others, can have worldwide access for their products.

"Many suggested that our response to the cotton ruling by the WTO would be to say 'Well, we'll solve that problem in the WTO negotiations.' We did not do that. We put in legislation to eliminate the Step Two program, and we very forcefully said that we will live by the rules of the WTO.

"Maybe one more question. Is there another question? OK, thank you everyone."