SECRETARY POWELL: Well, good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It has been my great pleasure to host President Arroyo here at the State Department. She has had, I think, a very, very satisfactory visit here, visiting with the President and other officials of the Bush Administration. All of us had the opportunity to thank her and to thank the Philippine Government and the Philippine people for the strong support they have given us since the September 11th incident, and really to reflect on the strong support that they have given us over many, many years through a number of crises.

Through war and peace, we have been friends. We have faced difficult times, but we have always faced those times and overcome those challenges because of the strength of the relationship not only between our two countries but our two peoples. Three million Filipinos live here in the United States. It is something we are very proud of.

The President and I had a chance to discuss a number of bilateral issues and I look forward to continued cooperation with her and her government in the months and years ahead.

Madam President, welcome again.

PRESIDENT ARROYO: Thank you. Thank you, Secretary. And I am very happy to be here. This is the last of my meetings with government officials in Washington before I go to an investment forum tonight.

As Secretary Powell said, we are friends in war, friends in peace, friends in defense but also friends in the economy. So tonight I will be doing something about the economy and hoping that we can together revive the confidence in the global economy so that we can move the world forward, because we mustn't let terrorism cow us into inaction with regards to our most important goals, which are to bring a better life for the people of the world.

Thank you.

SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much.

5:25 P.M. EST

[End]

Released on November 20, 2001