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US officials to drum up support for Iraq at Davos forum
Davos, Jan 22: Top US officials today started pressing their drive for international help in rebuilding Iraq and pursuing their war on terrorism at the second day of the World Economic Forum.
Davos, Jan 22: Top US officials today started
pressing their drive for international help in rebuilding Iraq
and pursuing their war on terrorism at the second day of the
World Economic Forum.
US attorney general John Ashcroft appealed for
stepped-up international cooperation to combat corruption,
saying it "undermines the trust on which democracy depends".
A senior US official in Washington meanwhile said US Vice President Dick Cheney would try to heal rifts with Europeans over the war on terrorism when he speaks on Saturday.
"We are winning the war against terrorism but there are other threats to our values," Ashcroft told a luncheon at this posh Swiss report.
"We need to expand our efforts to fight corruption," he said, calling it a trans-national "contagion" that was depriving countries throughout the world of much-needed funds for infrastructure development by sapping the equivalent of seven per cent of the annual world economy.
Pakistani President and US ally Pervez Musharraf was also due to address political and economic leaders gathered at this snowy Swiss resort for five days of public and private talks amid tight security.
During the morning, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, whose government suspended a fuel tax to avert a national strike, said he would not reimpose the controversial levy until a court has ruled on it. "This is a government that believes in the rule of law," Obasanjo told a small group of reporters on the fringe of the forum, which has attracted more that 30 leaders of government and state.
Tensions over the fuel tax, which Obasanjo called a "price modulating mechanism", have been closely watched by oil markets since Nigeria is the fifth-biggest exporter in the organisation of petroleum exporting countries.
Turning a light on the European economy, Jean-Philippe Cotis, chief economist at the organisation for economic cooperation and development told a news conference that the European Central Bank has room to cut interest rates to take the sizzle out of the red hot Euro, because inflation is tame.
And China also featured on the agenda, with business executives trumpeting the benefits of investing in the country, while US secretary of commerce Donald Evans noted that Washington's relationship with Beijing was "very good."
"I am one of the people who is very bullish and optimistic on China's integration in the world economy," Evans told a debate at the forum.
"I believe China is heading in the right direction and it is moving in good hands," Evans said.
"The relationship between our two countries is very very good," he added, noting that US President George W. Bush has visited the country twice -- a first for a US leader. Iraq, remained a key focus here, with people waiting to hear what Cheney has to say at the weekend.
Bureau Report
A senior US official in Washington meanwhile said US Vice President Dick Cheney would try to heal rifts with Europeans over the war on terrorism when he speaks on Saturday.
"We are winning the war against terrorism but there are other threats to our values," Ashcroft told a luncheon at this posh Swiss report.
"We need to expand our efforts to fight corruption," he said, calling it a trans-national "contagion" that was depriving countries throughout the world of much-needed funds for infrastructure development by sapping the equivalent of seven per cent of the annual world economy.
Pakistani President and US ally Pervez Musharraf was also due to address political and economic leaders gathered at this snowy Swiss resort for five days of public and private talks amid tight security.
During the morning, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, whose government suspended a fuel tax to avert a national strike, said he would not reimpose the controversial levy until a court has ruled on it. "This is a government that believes in the rule of law," Obasanjo told a small group of reporters on the fringe of the forum, which has attracted more that 30 leaders of government and state.
Tensions over the fuel tax, which Obasanjo called a "price modulating mechanism", have been closely watched by oil markets since Nigeria is the fifth-biggest exporter in the organisation of petroleum exporting countries.
Turning a light on the European economy, Jean-Philippe Cotis, chief economist at the organisation for economic cooperation and development told a news conference that the European Central Bank has room to cut interest rates to take the sizzle out of the red hot Euro, because inflation is tame.
And China also featured on the agenda, with business executives trumpeting the benefits of investing in the country, while US secretary of commerce Donald Evans noted that Washington's relationship with Beijing was "very good."
"I am one of the people who is very bullish and optimistic on China's integration in the world economy," Evans told a debate at the forum.
"I believe China is heading in the right direction and it is moving in good hands," Evans said.
"The relationship between our two countries is very very good," he added, noting that US President George W. Bush has visited the country twice -- a first for a US leader. Iraq, remained a key focus here, with people waiting to hear what Cheney has to say at the weekend.
Bureau Report