TRANSCRIPT OF THlE PRIME MINISTER, THlE HON P. J KEATING, MY
EXTRACTS FROM JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE, MEDIA CENTRE,
HAWAII BEACH HOTEL, LIMASSOL, FRIDAY, 22 OCTOBER 1993
E& OE PROOF ONLY
His Excellency Mr Glafcos Clerides:
We have had our afternoon break and because we have concluded the
discussion of a very important subject and because we have reached a decision
we thought that during the break, we would come and inform you about the
decision taken. With regard to the importance of the decision I have four
Prime Ministers with me who will explain the importance of the decision..
P1K: Mr President, I don't think I have much more to add to that, but to say that the
importance of the statement is that it exists, that it has come from a diverse
group, most from the developing countries including the least developed
countries, two G7 countries, four members of the (" airns Group represented at
CHOGM. It is a substantial statement at a critical -drne. There are 55 days left
only to the December 15 deadline and we are calling on the relevant countries
to endorse the Draft Final Act including the Blair House Accord which was a
substantial part of it. The key point is that the inte:. ests of all participants are
factored into the GATT Round as it now stands. The Round began with an
ambitious proposal to-look after the traditional areis of goods and then moving
it to services, intellectual property rights and agriculture and including, of
course, much of the agriculture of the developing world. I think what has been
agreed in the Draft Final Act and the Blair House, Accord are key minimums for
a successful conclusion of the Round. So, the minimums are in place, the
Round can be successfully concluded, there has to be some give on the part of
a number of countries and the Round could be successfully concluded and I
think the point of the delegation is to impress upon selected countries the
importance which a representative group like CHOGM believes is important
for the things which Prime Minister Major said fj-ee trade, growth and jobs.
J: Can I ask Prime Minister Keating, how he would describe any Heads of
Government in key capitals visited who prove imf ervious to the arguments of
this delegation?
P1K: I didn't quite get the sense of the question. The fact that this is such a
representative group, say covering four Cairns Group countries, two G7
2
countries and a lot of developing countries, it has status by virtue of the fact
that this statement exists and that there is a willingness and a wish to see the
Round concluded. Now, as people know, much has been done to get to a
point of conclusion as Prime Minister Major has sid. There are a few areas
outstanding and they are the matters which I think we should wish to focus
upon and that is why as the Secretary General said, a decision about which
places, that is which Governments will be visited and by whom will be the key
points.
ends
Left to right along table 6k enc & n
1 The Rt Hon P J Patterson
Prime Minister, Jamaica
2 The Hon P. J Keating MP
Prime Minister, Australia
3 Mr Glafkos Clerides
President, Cyprus
4 The Rt Hon John Major
Prime Minister, Britain
Chief Eleazar Chukwuemeka ( Emeka) Anyaoku
( simply as Chief Anyaoku)
Commonwealth Secretary-General
6 The Hon Goh Chok Tong
Prime Minister, Singapore