OBAMA-ECONOMY 2

On the issue of trade, part of the reason why he was
travelling to Asia, Obama said: "I believe that the US will
grow and prosper if we are trading with Asia, the fastest
growing region of the world. We want access to your market.
"We think we have good products to sell, you think you
guys have good products to sell to us. This can be a win-win
situation."
Painting a picture of the US economy and the mood of the
people, he said: "unemployment in the US is very high now...
so people are frustrated... one of the most wonderful things
about democracy is that when people are not happy, they have a
right to express their unhappiness."
Official data showed that US unemployment was at a high
of 9.6 per cent. Saturday, Obama announced private trade
deals between US and Indian companies worth USD 10 billion and
ones that would create over 50,000 jobs back home.
He said he was committed to move America forward for
which "we have to invest in education and that will be the
primary driver of growth in the future... We have to invest in
strong infrastructure, we have to make sure we are taking
advantage of opportunities like clean energy."
Obama said he would take up many of these issues during
his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for
enhancing cooperation, which he said was sure to create a
"win-win situation. So, I want to make sure we are here,
because this will create jobs in the US and create jobs in
India."
Stressing on a greater role for India on the global
stage, he said: "Most of the work I did with Prime Minister
Singh in the first two years in the G20, we were focussed in
making sure that world financial system did not collapse and
stabilise the economy." MORE PTI