| Hillary Clinton departs on European, Asian tour |
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07/11/2009 11:31 (14 Day 11:30 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- WASHINGTON, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Europe and Asia on November 8-19, the State Department has said in a statement.
During the first leg of her extensive tour, Clinton will visit Germany on November 8-9 to "represent the United States at the 20th Anniversary celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall and meet with senior German officials."
The top U.S. diplomat may have a difficult time during her talks with German officials following General Motors' decision not to sell Opel to a Canadian-Russian consortium.
The U.S. auto giant decided late on November 3 to retain its big European subsidiary after almost a year of sales talks with Canadian group Magna International and Russian partner Sberbank, citing "an improving business environment" in Europe.
Although U.S. President Barack Obama has said that Washington had nothing to do with GM's business policies, German state and industry officials, who lobbied heavily for Opel deal, have expressed disappointment over the surprising decision.
Clinton will continue her trip in Singapore to attend meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
"While there, she will attend the APEC Ministerial Meetings and will hold bilateral meetings with her counterparts from the region," the statement said on November 6.
Clinton will travel to Manila on November 12-13, where she "will hold consultations with senior Filipino officials, highlighting the U.S.-Philippines treaty alliance."
She will wrap up her tour in Singapore joining U.S. President Barack Obama for the 17th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting on November 14-15.
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