US, Japan Urge Each Other to Revive Economy

President George W. Bush and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Monday urged each other to take steps to revive their sagging economies.

Bush and Mori, who arrived here on Sunday, met at the White House for two hours against a backdrop of economic uncertainty in the U.S. and Japanese economies.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, Mori expressed his determination to "continue pursuing appropriate economic policies and to promote vigorously structural and regulatory reform to revitalize the Japanese economy and strength the financial system."

The statement said that both Bush and Mori "agreed on the importance of promoting deregulation, restructuring and foreign direct investment."

It said that the two leaders also pledged to work closely together for a new round of global trade talks this year.

During his meeting with Mori, Bush expressed deep regrets over the sinking of Japanese trawler Ehime Maru by U.S. submarine Greeneville off Hawaii on February 9.

The two sides also discussed issues on regional security, U.S. Military presence on Okinawa and missile defense.

(Xinhua 03/20/2001)