PM gets a Powell pow-wow

By JOHN ARMSTRONG in Shanghai

Prime Minister Helen Clark last night met American Secretary of State Colin Powell in a meeting that lasted twice as long as the 15 minutes scheduled.

Helen Clark described the meeting as very warm.

She said she and Mr Powell had discussed in detail the situation in the Middle East and Afghanistan and the Secretary of State had been very appreciative of New Zealand's offer of SAS troops.

She also said she had invited him to visit New Zealand and the request had been received warmly.

The Prime Minister was also encouraged that Mr Powell had made positive statements about the possibility of a United States-New Zealand free trade agreement - a bilateral deal which has so far stalled because of American reluctance to proceed.

Mr Powell's advice to New Zealand was "hang in there".

Earlier, Mr Powell said NZ's response to the September 11 atrocities was very important in building a coalition of nations to fight global terrorism.

He and Helen Clark are in Shanghai for the Apec leaders' meeting.

The Prime Minister is also expected to hold informal discussions with President George W. Bush this weekend.

Before the meeting with Mr Powell, the PM played down Apec's failure to endorse military action against Afghanistan, saying she never expected that to happen.

"There are at least two countries - Malaysia and Indonesia - that could never buy into that."

It was more important that there was consensus among the leaders, who will make a formal declaration tomorrow unequivocally condemning terrorism.

The Prime Minister said Apec was an economic forum and it was more important to see what could be done to cut off the source of funding to terrorist groups.

But some of the 21 Apec economies wanted to emphasise the need to deal with the root causes of terrorism, particularly in the Middle East.

Helen Clark yesterday also delivered a major speech to the Apec chief executives forum which was attended by business magnates from the US and Japan, including Microsoft guru Bill Gates.

She told them that NZ offered high-value investment.

The Government had varying policy initiatives to develop a knowledge economy, including its emphasis on education, scientific innovation and efforts to lure talented immigrants.

The Prime Minister said that for NZ, globalisation was a given.

"We need markets offshore to sell our goods and services; we need capital from offshore to invest in our future."

But reflecting her Government's centre-left roots, she called for organised labour to be granted a role in the Apec agenda.

"Exclusion ignites the fear that globalisation is one-sided in its effects and the sense of grievance which that creates has acted to harm international meetings from Seattle to Genoa."

Full coverage: Apec 2001

Apec China 2001 official site