Remarks: Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah

Remarks With Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah Before Their Meeting

Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
June 20, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: It’s my pleasure to welcome the minister responsible for foreign affairs from Oman, Yusuf bin Alawi, and it’s a great pleasure for me to welcome him here because His Majesty the Sultan of Oman has given the United States important advice and counsel, has helped us to be able to do things that might otherwise have been difficult in terms of reaching out to people, building alliances, building coalitions, and frankly, dealing with some very complicated, important international security issues.

So Oman is contributing to the global dialogue and we’re grateful for that. In addition, we look forward to strengthening our trade and business – excuse me – our trade and business affairs, but also our people-to-people relationship. And very importantly, we think there are opportunities in science and technology to build a relationship which I know is important to Oman, and the United States would like to see if we could move forward on that.

So we have a lot to discuss today. I also look for advice from the minister who’s been very helpful, together with His Majesty, in helping to work through complicated challenges within the Gulf states. Oman has played an important role in the GCC and we look for advice here today about what is happening in the region, and particularly with Iraq. So it’s a timely visit and I’m very grateful to the minister for being here. Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER BIN ALAWI: Thank you very much, Secretary. I am grateful for your invitation bringing me here to Washington. To every extent, you have done – you’ve covered everything. But of course, Oman, in times of crisis, very much wants to stand with the friends and to come to a solution to this crisis. This is part of His Majesty principles (inaudible), and that is – I hope he shall (inaudible) see (inaudible). I am grateful for all the United States has given to Oman, particularly in technology and transfer of technology to the young people in Oman.

So I am grateful for this opportunity to visit with you and go through this. Thank you very much.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, my friend. Thank you. Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER BIN ALAWI: Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you all very much.

ENDS

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